Why US Indo-Pacific ‘burden sharing’ risks deepening polarisation and big power rivalry

The US push to promote “burden sharing” among its allies in the Indo-Pacific has seen it focusing on increasing its military capacity while lowering the political temperature in an effort to reassure its allies.

But some analysts have questioned its chances of succeeding, arguing that this deterrence strategy has intensified great power rivalry and polarisation in the region, while driving deeper bilateral cooperation between China and Russia on the one hand and Russia and North Korea on the...