Paths to primacy: How rising powers win domination in Asia, 1500-present (2024-2028)

This Fellowship aims to investigate how, when and why rising powers have historically won regional domination in Asia from 1500CE-present. China today threatens to displace America as Asia's pre-eminent power. This study will comprehensively examine Asia''s historical geopolitics since 1500, and expects to to produce a new conceptual framework that explains how, when and why rising powers either succeed or fail to seize regional primacy from their Great Power rivals. The project expects to significantly improve Australia's historical understanding of the power contests that have made modern Asia, and enhance policymakers' ability to learn from this history in understanding and responding to modern struggles for regional supremacy.