ASIAN PACIFIC – GLOBAL CONFLICT POTENTIAL

Abstract

The paper deals with the Asia-Pacifi c region, which is, with its geopolitical and
geostrategic characteristics, one of the most important areas of the modern world, and
the dynamics and character of processes that take place in it have huge implications on
international politics. The underlying hypothesis of this work is that powerful potentials
of the Asia Pacifi c open up the possibility that it will becomes a true leader of the overall
progress in the world, but the confl icts that exist in that area, of which the most destructive
territorial disputes are, also have the potential for global scale confrontation.
The geostrategic signifi cance, transport corridors, huge reserves of oil and gas,
the highest concentration of human resources, as well as high technological achievements
make the Asia Pacifi c region one of the most powerful drivers of the development
and progress of the modern world. Such a unique position of the Asian Pacifi c contributes
to a strong concentration of the interests of international politics in the region. Of course,
the Asia Pacifi c is a place where the most important geopolitical and geo-strategic interests
of the most important actors of contemporary international politics are in confl ict.
These circumstances make the region one of the most vulnerable areas of the modern
world in the security sense. Primary causes of the confl ict are economic as well as geostrategic
characteristics of the area. On the top of the numerous and complex Asian issues,
are confl icts between China and the US, which primarily determine the character of
relations in the region.
Authors conclude that US-Chinese rivalry and competition with a progressive
tendency are unstoppable and with their complexity are hardly controlled, so there is a
real danger of radicalization of their relations, with simultaneous radicalization of relations
across the region. All these contribute to the fact that relations in the Asia Pacifi c
region are very complicated, often vague and unbalanced and potentially explosive,
pushing a region of enormous strategic importance into the labyrinth of multiple instability
whose implications would have a powerful refl ection on security in the world. The
arrival of the new US administration announces the toughening of the US bidding with
China as its main competitor, which is causing uncertainty about future security trends in
the Asia Pacifi c region.