POLITICS OF PACIFIC REGION: US-CHINA COMPETITION, RISE OF OTHER ACTORS AND FUTURE SCENARIOS FOR REGIONAL ORDER

US alliance politics, especially the AUKUS pact, reinvigoration of QUAD and the rise of other actors like Japan, Australia and ASEAN, have convoluted the geopolitics of the region. China has doubled its efforts to neutralise any adverse effects of the pacts. This study aims at explaining the nature and dynamics of the US and Chinese divergences, strategic partnerships, alliance politics and its implications for the regional order. The study, while adopting the theoretical framework of balancing and content analysis as the methodological tool, hypothesised that the new US partnership strategy of containing China has forced Chinese leaders to proactively pursue competitive countervailing strategies that will implicate the interests of both states. The rise of other actors and strategic alliances/partnerships, created for balancing, will further complicate the regional politics with clear implications for the regional political and economic stability.