Joseph Camilleri, Larry Marshall, M. S. Michael and M. T. Seigel (eds), Asia-Pacific Geopolitics: Hegemony vs Human Security, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2007, xiv + 247 pp.
An earlier edition was published in Japanese:
Michael Siegel and Joseph Camilleri (eds), Caught between Multilateralism and Alliance: Japan and Australia at the Crossroads (in Japanese). Tokyo: Kokusai Chon, 2006, 305 pp
The recent summit meeting between the Soviet and American leaders has confirmed the trend towards close relations between the two countries. It would seem that this kind of political summitry is to become a regular feature of the international calendar.
Stories of war, crisis and cooperation in world politics are often told through the lens of the politics of the ‘great powers.’ These states, due to their material capabilities and social standing in the global order, have the unique ability to both foment and mitigate instability and insecurity in ways that shape the global order as a whole.
Whether the role that the great powers play results in greater levels of stability and order or instead in crisis and disorder rests on the degree of managerial responsibility that these states accept. This forum will consider the prospects for a new age of ‘great power management’ in order to peacefully navigate the shift in the distribution of power currently underway in world politics.
