Rising tensions between major powers in Asia pose new risks to the region’s prosperity and stability, and possibly to international peace. Despite decades of rapid economic growth and social improvement in Asia, a flammable mix of still-bitter historical grievances, increasing resource competition, arms racing, and nationalist feeling—especially among the young—is fueling disputes such as those among China, Japan, and Southeast Asian nations over claims to tiny islands in the seas around China. As the United States “rebalances” to Asia, these geopolitical fault lines and flash points threaten to derail the Asian engines of global growth and involve the United States in irreconcilable regional rivalries and even military conflict.

Marshall M. Bouton has been president of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs since 2001. Prior to that, he served as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Asia Society. His previous positions included director for policy analysis for Near East, Africa, and South Asia in the Department of Defense, special assistant to the US ambassador to India, and executive secretary for the Indo-US subcommission on education and culture. He is an author or editor of several books, articles and op-eds on India, Asia, and US foreign policy. Bouton earned a BA from Harvard, an MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD from the University of Chicago.

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