PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Changing International Political Order
Critically analyze the implications of Sino-American strategic rivalry for the south and south -east Asian region.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
R1 new bipolarity: economics + military weight, not ideology — main theatre = South & South-East Asia — real stake is autonomy, not war R2 region sits between Chinese trade and American security — rivalry's real question: can the choice be avoided → autonomy as the test
Body flow
South China Sea as sharpest flashpoint (Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia vs China; US freedom of navigation) — ASEAN refuses the choice (gains from both; ASEAN Way = consensus + non-interference — near neutrality) — Lee Hsien Loong: resident power vs reality on the doorstep — South Asia on the same logic (India-US + Quad vs BRI/CPEC) — India's double bind (Raja Mohan: opportunity + challenge; land frontier after Galwan + Indian Ocean) → smaller states pay first (Chellaney: debt-trap diplomacy — Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar)
Counter-view
competition also brings courtship — US partnerships (Vietnam, Indonesia) give weight they otherwise lack — interdependence (Nye, Ikenberry) — rigid blocs unlikely — sharper danger is Chellaney's G-2 trap: forced choice between a transactional America and a predatory China
Conclusion routes
: R1 two futures: driver of peace and prosperity vs epicentre of turbulence R2 outcome rests on middle powers holding strategic autonomy, not on Washington and Beijing alone
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
