<p>THE contemporary strategic context is increasingly defined by the rapid growth of major Asian economies and the rapidly increasing interest the major powers are evincing in the region. It has also resulted in a perceptible shift in power to the Asian continent. An assessment of how each of the major Asian powers and important external actors are responding to these developments is necessary for understanding the underlying concerns about peace and security in Asia in the 21st Century.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>What is the character of the emerging strategic context in Asia? How are the processes of globalisation, economic interdependence and diffusion of technologies shaping the Asian strategic context? What does the ‘Rise of Asia’ mean for global peace? How do regional perspectives inform the debate? What are the common threats and challenges? What are the prospects of fostering cooperative state behaviour in confronting the transnational threats? These are some of the issues that expert contributors discuss in this volume.</p>

<p><strong>N.S. Sisodia</strong> is the Director General, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. He holds an Honours degree in History from the University of Delhi and a Masters degree from the Harvard University, USA where he was a Mason Fellow. He joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1968 and served as Additional Secretary, National Security Council Secretariat and Secretary, Government of India in the Ministries of Finance and Defence. He has also been the Vice Chancellor, University of Udaipur. He has co-edited Emerging India: Security and Foreign Policy Perspectives; India and the World; Changing Security Dynamic in Eastern Asia: Focus on Japan; India-Japan Relations: Partnership for Peace and Security; and West Asia in Turmoil: Implications for Global Security.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>V. Krishnappa </strong>is a Research Fellow at the IDSA, New Delhi. His research interests include strategic dynamics in South and West Asia, great power politics, strategic theory, transnational terrorism and contemporary wars. He is the Book Review Editor of Strategic Analysis (IDSA-Routledge) and Member of Editorial Committee of Journal of Defence Studies (IDSA).</p>

<p><strong>Robert Ayson</strong> is Director of Studies, Graduate Studies, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, Canberra.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Abanti Bhattacharya</strong> is Associate Fellow at IDSA, New Delhi.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Bharti Chhibber</strong> is lecturer in Political Science at Miranda House, University of Delhi.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>James Cotton</strong> is Professor of Politics, University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Bruce Cumings</strong> is Professor of History at University of Chicago.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Sujit Dutta</strong> is Senior Fellow at IDSA, New Delhi.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>P.K. Gautam</strong> is Research Fellow at IDSA, New Delhi.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Namrata Goswami</strong> is Associate Fellow at IDSA, New Delhi.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Shigekatsu Kondo</strong> is Senior Research Fellow and Executive Director of National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), Tokyo.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Yevgeniy M. Kozhokin </strong>is Director, Russia’s Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS), Moscow.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Arpita Mathur</strong> is Associate Fellow at IDSA, New Delhi.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Gregory J.B. Mills</strong> directs the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Wong Ming-Hsien</strong> is Senior Advisor in National Security Council, R.O.C and Associate Professor at Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, Tamkang University, Taiwan.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>C. Raja Mohan</strong> is Professor at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Phunchok Stobdan</strong> is Senior Fellow at IDSA, New Delhi.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Gudrun Wacker </strong>is Head of Research Unit Asia at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (German Institute for International and Security Affairs), Berlin.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Xu Xin</strong> is Associate Director of the China and Asia-Pacific Studies Program and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Government at Cornell University, New York.</p>