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The rising convergence between India and the United States, as well as their strategic interests, have been evident since the end of the Cold War. Over the last decade, the Indo-US strategic partnership has strengthened not only in the areas of defence, arms cooperation, counter-terrorism collaboration, ballistic missile defence, drones, nuclear technologies, space, and cyber technology, but India has also emerged as a prominent strategic partner of the United States in the areas of cyber and homeland security. India is becoming a pompous regional player who wants to be the regional hegemon as the Indo-US Strategic Partnership grows. As a result of the Indo-US strategic cooperation, the discrepancy in conventional and nuclear weapons between India and Pakistan could exacerbate the South Asian arms race and destabilise Pakistan's security environment. Pakistan must implement a proactive foreign policy in order to gain from the changing global and strategic environment. For Pakistan's economic and security, an alliance policy with regional and extra regional nations would be more prudent. Under the shadow of the US-India cooperation, this paper briefly emphasises the potential security threats to Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Thailand's response to China's rise. Contrary to predictions made by power transition theories that states respond to rising powers by balancing against or bandwagoning with them, Thailand has reacted to China's rise with no fundamental change in its alignment posture. Thailand sees little threat but much opportunity in China's rise. Thailand is clearly not balancing; it has taken few measures to enhance its military capability or strengthen its alliance with the United States. This article argues that Thai policy can be classified as bandwagoning only under definitions that cannot be distinguished from foreign policy writ large. The policy implications of these findings are that the United States should not to take access to Thai bases or Thai support for a balancing coalition against China for granted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both China and Japan are key players in the Asia-Pacific region and their security relations will to a significant extent determine the peace and stability of the area. Based on a wide range of Chinese-language sources, this article examines how China perceives Tokyo's regional security strategy since the end of the Cold War. It also provides a critical evaluation of Chinese perceptions of Japan and their policy implications. The article focuses on the views of the Chinese security specialists who play an important advisory role in China's foreign policy-making process. While Chinese analysts' interpretations of Japanese strategy in the Asia-Pacific are shaped largely by the consideration of great power competition and the balance of power in the region, they do appreciate the relevance of domestic politics and economic factors to Japanese strategic thinking. Thus, despite a deep suspicion among Chinese policy élites of Japan's global and regional aspirations, Beijing has basically adopted a pragmatic approach to managing Sino-Japanese relations over the past decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]