Abstract :
Abstract The world is witnessing an intriguing historic phenomenon: the rise of a homegrown maritime power against the backdrop of the USA's dominance. The driver of this irregularity in world order—China—has brought the rise of the Asian continent to the forefront of world politics. While Chinese aspirations for great power status are a natural outgrowth of impressive economic growth, their entry into the nautical world has also brought worrisome trends. Taking inspiration from Alfred Mahan's sea domination hypothesis, China has been focusing on its naval deployment in the region through multiple economic investments. As these developments challenge America's status quo role in the region, the phenomenon has taken a turn for an impending clash. As both stakeholders struggle to establish and maintain their status quo in the region, respectively, their dilemma has been affecting the world's littoral states and geopolitical economies. While many scientists of international relations discourse paint this historic phenomenon under the light of the balance of power system, this thesis aims to discuss the power relations between these major powers through the other side of the lens, namely, the power transition theory. With the ongoing situation of the Indian Ocean and its littoral states, this research outlines that the implications for the region may not be of peace and stability as the balance of power system predicts, but rather, in accordance with Organski and Kugler’s theory, the situation could be quite the contrary.
Keyword :
Keywords: Indian Ocean Region, Power Politics, Power Transition Theory, Sino-American Relation.