Great Power Comp in South Asia

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

Great Power Competition in South Asia: How India, the PRC, and U.S. compete for influence, resources, and military access India has been the dominant power in South Asia for centuries. Today, the PRC is using the Belt and Road Initiative as well as its considerable naval resources to seek influence and exert pressure on South Asian counties. The United States is actively working with India, Japan, and Australia to provide an alternative to PRC debt and military influence. This course will examine the evolution of this Great Power competition and the policy alternatives available to the United States as it navigates this dynamic security and economic environment in the most populous region in the world. The instructor is currently a Senior State Department Fellow at the SFS Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. A career senior foreign service officer, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs from 2021-25 and U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic from 2018 to 2021.