The Decade of Living Dangerously: The Impact of US-China Strategic Competition on Asia

The US-China relationship is experiencing its worst period of tension since the normalisation of relations more than 40 years ago. The world is now entering a "decade of living dangerously", in which conflict between the two great powers is no longer unthinkable. What does this growing competition mean for the rest of Asia? This article traces the reality of the regional impact of the last four years of US-China relations under the Xi Jinping and Trump administrations before looking ahead to what the next four years of a Biden administration may bring for the Indo-Pacific. It concludes with reflections on the region's independence and agency, what can be done to strengthen regional multilateralism, and the how and why of building a genuine regional security architecture.