American Alliances as a Factor of Asia-Pacific Security (2009-2016)

Despite the growing importance of the Asia-Pacific region, there is an increasing imbalance between the objectives of the Asia-Pacific countries and regional institutions unable to face promptly the challenges and threats of the 21st century. This situation is an obstacle to the development of regional integration and escalates tensions in the region, leading to a decrease in the internal “margin of safety” of the Asia-Pacific region. Since the Cold War such a “margin of safety” has been provided by a “hub-and-spoke” system led by the United States. The China’s rise in 2000s became a challenge to the US-centric security system. The change in the balance of power and, as a consequence, the Sino-American conflict of interests, along with the territorial disputes and other conventional security threats, has a negative impact on both consolidating the regional security system and creating favorable conditions for the implementation of the economic integration projects in the Asia-Pacific.