Join us for the launch of Geopolitics and the Western Pacific: China, Japan and the US by author Dr Leszek Buszynski.

Professor Michael Wesley, Dean of the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific will launch the book.

Geopolitics and the Western Pacific examines China’s national resurgence under its current leader Xi Jinping and its impact on the geopolitical environment of the Western Pacific. It analyses China’s push for geopolitical space in the South China Sea and its policies toward the Korean Peninsula in light of its rapidly growing military capabilities. Dr Buszynski highlights the dilemma this presents for the United States and Japan, which seek to protect their own interests. He questions should the United States confront China or accommodate it, possibly at the risk of undermining its geopolitical position and its alliance relationships with Japan, Australia and South Korea.

Dr Leszek Buszynski is an Honorary Professor at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at ANU. From 1997 to 2010, he was professor of International Relations, at the International University of Japan (IUJ). From 1997 to 2001 he was Dean of the Graduate School of International Relations at the IUJ and concurrently Director of the IUJ Research Institute. He was also Director of the Research Institute of Asian Development from (RIAD) 1995 until 1997. His latest book publication is Negotiating with North Korea: The Six Party Talks and the Nuclear Issue.