US-CHINA Competition: Implications For The South Asian Strategic Stability

This research paper encompasses South Asia as an area of interest mainly focusing on the US-China competition and its impact on the South Asian region. The research paper focuses mainly on China's increased aggression and the United States' abrupt inward turn which are both the consequence of factors represented in the variables of the topic. The critical independent variable is patriotism, which, in combination with China's and the United States power trajectories, defines how their relationship will unfold in the next years. China today wants more global influence; the United States currently wants less. Hence, there is ample reason to expect a soft landing as the world evolves from unipolarity to Multipolarity. It has been about a few years since the United States and China saw their relationship deteriorate due to an increase in hostilities and a decrease in collaboration with each other. The United States and China are in the midst of a power transition that has significant ramifications for the balance of power in South Asia and East Asia and for their respective national security objectives. As the power transfer progresses, it is likely that a great power struggle will increase emerging as a new cold war. This competition would lead to many implications for South Asia and this paper would be highlighting the role of South Asian states in the new cold war scenario, emergence of new world order, the race for an arms race, economic turmoil, etc. The current US-China competition will have dire consequences both globally and regionally.