Understanding Asia's fragile giants: empire, sovereignty and Chinese and Indian security perceptions and strategies in the Asian century. (2013-2016)

This project examines the security perceptions and strategies of Asia's 'fragile giants' - China and India - by locating them within the first macro-historical study of international orders' evolution in Northeast and South Asia from 1650-present. This project will explain(a) how Manchu and British imperialists were able to build empires of unprecedented size in Northeast and South Asia from 1650-1850; (b) establish why these empires collapsed over the century 1850-1950; and (c) determine how these successive episodes of imperial construction and collapse continue to drive Chinese and Indian fears of internal fragmentation in ways that prevent their full integration into the current liberal global order.