Global and regional confrontation in South and Southeast Asia

ABSTRACT The security situation in South and Southeast Asia plays out amid a global geopolitical order. The United States remains the single most powerful country and will remain so for some time; Russia is a rough equal only with respect to its nuclear arsenal; and China will soon become, in terms of total economic output, the world leader – but its per capita income level will not soon approximate those of Western developed countries. This article looks into how India and Pakistan fit into the global and regional security landscape, and how their respective relationships with the United States and China have evolved as America pivoted to Asia.