The years 1900 to 1954 marked the transformation from an exotic colonized Far East to a more
autonomous prominent Asia Pacific. This anthology examines the grand strategies of great
powers as they vied for influence and ultimately hegemony in the region. At the turn of the
twentieth century the main contestants included the venerable British Empire and the aspiring
Japan and United States. The unwieldy leviathan of China the European imperial holdings in
Southeast Asia and the expanses of the western Pacific emerged as battlegrounds in literal and
geopolitical terms. Other less powerful nations such as India Burma Australia and French
Indochina also exercised agency in crafting grand strategies to further their interests and in
their interactions with those great powers. Among the many factors affecting all nations
invested in the Asia Pacific were such traditional elements as economics military power and
diplomacy as well as fluid traits like ideology culture and personality. The era saw the
decline of British and European influence in the Asia Pacific the rise and fall of Japanese
imperialism the emergence of American primacy the ongoing struggle for independence in
Southeast Asia and China's resurrection as a contender for hegemony. Great powers shifted and
so too did their grand strategies.
