The Emerging Regional Power Dilemma in the Indo-pacific Region: Bangladesh and Sri Lankan Perspectives

Abstract

Fluidity in economic equations, shifts in the balance of power, instability in geopolitical relations, and geoeconomics of disruptive technologies are four cornerstones of international relations of our time, as they determine the rise and fall of powers. For this article, two countries of South Asia were examined – Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as rising South Asian powers, and two major contending global powers – the U.S. and China that are setting the geo-economics and geostrategic courses in international political structure. In conclusion, economically strengthening the great power involvements within the Indo-Pacific context would mean ensuring a rule-based system that will deliver economic goods to the Indo-Pacific countries. Strategically, it would mean strengthening Bangladesh and Sri Lanka’s strategic autonomy in the Bay of Bengal through economic, technological, and institutional cooperation. This article advances the debate about the rise of new regional powers and their dilemmas with the major powers involved in the Indo-Pacific region.