IDEAS, MALDIVES-CHINA RELATIONS AND BALANCE OF POWER DYNAMICS IN SOUTH ASIA

Athaulla A. Rasheed

Abstract


Today we observe an enhanced development cooperation between the Maldives and China. This article discusses a constructivist viewpoint about Maldives-China relations and their relational impact on the state of power dynamics in the South Asia region. It makes two conceptual claims: first, that Maldives-China relations are shaped by mutual ideas about development cooperation and second, that an intersubjective process of foreign policy making has influenced the power dynamics in South Asia. According to this ideational framework, coalition or alliance is formed and shaped by ideas constitutive of individual preferences of the Maldives towards China rather than traditional power arrangements between South Asian neighbours. It explains that foreign policy interests of the Maldives are not exclusively shaped by materialist and strategic positions of other states in South Asia.


Keywords


China; Maldives; South Asia, regional balance of power, constructivism; foreign policy

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References


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