Fighting for Connectivity: Disruptive Brokering in Great Power Competition

• In Event: Great Power Competition

Abstract

Third-party influence permeates every aspect of international politics. States often try to impact others’ relationships, for better or worse. I conceptualize the type of state behavior that aims to weaken or disrupt the ties between two other states as disruptive brokering, and explore how major powers, in the context of great power competition, can exercise successful disruptive brokering to alienate a third country from a competitor. I argue that scholars cannot explain the success of disruptive brokering simply by reference to asymmetric power and interdependence at the dyadic or triadic level, because the topology of the larger network plays an important role in shaping state power and autonomy. Different network topologies can create opportunities for some disruptive strategies but constraints for others, which in turn affects the results of disruptive brokering. I substantiate my theoretical framework with a social network analysis of the dynamic economic cooperation network that connects Asian countries, the US, and China since 2001, and the case study of the Sino-US 5G technological competition in Southeast Asia. This article uncovers a dynamic relationship between network positions and states’ behavior, and provides a network-relational perspective to observe and analyze great power rivalry and grand strategy. The findings will shed light on the modern US-China geostrategic competition in Asia and the world at large.

Author

• Haoming Xiong, Ohio State University