Middle Powers in an Age of Strategic Competition

Sponsored by the UC Lab Fees Research Program


How will middle powers cope with the rise of Great Power competition in the 21st century? With the rise of China as a peer competitor to the United States, as well as the growth of India, resurgence of Russia, and the retreat of other actors such as the European Union, the question of appropriate policies and strategies for middle powers in a world of superpower competition looms large. Our conference on geoeconomics and middle power strategies, held on October 25, 2019, linked the issue of US-China strategic competition across a host of issues regarding trade, investment, and industrial policy including financial regulation, environmental protection, and the digital economy, as well as to other issue areas in which middle powers operate. This conference was supported by the UC Laboratory Fees Research Program.

BASC is hosting a subsequent conference in May 2021, supported by the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, which will address the topic of geo-economic strategic competition amongst middle powers in the Indo-Pacific. Papers will cover the overarching concepts and theory of this issue and specific dynamics in the areas of finance, energy, and technology competition. Papers will explore the impact of renewed great power competition between Washington and Beijing in the Indo-Pacific across these three issue areas.

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