The ‘Indo-Pacific’ concept hails from Japan
An Analysis of the “return” of a “new” regional security complex
In recent years, the use of the term “Indo-Pacific” has gained currency within and outside Asia as leaders and policymakers from Australia, Japan, India, Indonesia, the United States, and, more recently, Europe have increasingly been referring to the “Indo-Pacific” rather than the “Asia-Pacific” in their policy communiqués and foreign policy approaches. The increasing popularity of the “Indo-Pacific” concept is further illustrated by the fact that the nomenclature is also being used by states that did not officially rename their strategies. As the shift to the “Indo-Pacific” is rapidly reshaping Asian geopolitics, it has become necessary to understand its origins.
A Geopolitical Construct of Contested Interpretation
In terms of geo-spatiality, the Indo-Pacific is broadly understood as a continuum across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with its expanse being debated to range from Eastern Africa to the Western Coast of the United States. Scholars describe the Indo-Pacific as “a confluence of two, great, geo-oceanic systems” (Bouchard et al 2019:5). According to Australian security policy expert Rory Medcalf, the “Indo-Pacific” can be considered as “a maritime super-region with its geographical centre in Southeast…
