Southeast Asia and the Rise of China

The course will look at China’s rise as a hegemon against the backdrop of Southeast Asian politics and big power competition. We will follow the Southeast Asian countries’ struggle to achieve unity, modernize their economies and democratize their polity. We will also follow the evolving role of Japan, India and South Korea in the regional balance. A major focus of the course would be the emergence of China from a poor communist country to a superpower dominating the neighbors and challenging the United States for global hegemony.