The Quad's Geo-Economic and Geostrategic Implications

At a time when there is a life-and-death conflict between two systems of governance — repressive and democratic — a loose strategic coalition of the Indo-Pacific region's four leading democracies, the Quad, is rapidly solidifying. Comprised of Australia, India, Japan and the United States, the Quad has received a lot of international attention, largely because of the promise it holds toward underpinning the power equilibrium in the Indo-Pacific. In fact, the increasing use of the term "Indo-Pacific" — which refers to all countries bordering the Indian and Pacific oceans — rather than the traditional term "Asia-Pacific," underscores the maritime dimension of today's challenges. Asia's oceans have increasingly become an arena of competition for resources and influence. It now seems likely that future regional crises will be triggered and settled at sea.

As is apparent from the websites of the White House and the foreign ministries of its four member-states, the Quad's official name is the Quad, not "Quadrilateral Security Dialogue," as some publications keep calling it on first reference. The Quad's origins date back to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that devastated large parts of Asia, killing hundreds of thousands across Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa. The four countries joined hands to coordinate disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. The idea of formalizing a Quad emerged from that humanitarian initiative.

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AIG Global Trade Series 2021 Podcast Episode 3
"Trade and the Indo-Pacific: CPTPP, BRI & RCEP"
by Vasuki SHASTRY (Associate Fellow, Asia Pacific Programme, Chatham House) / Deborah ELMS (Founder and Executive Director of the Asian Trade Centre) / WATANABE Tetsuya (Vice President, RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/events/21052002/info.html

RIETI BBL Webinar: Global Intelligence Series
"Challenges and Opportunities for India-Japan Economic Partnership"
by Amb. Sujan R. CHINOY (Director General, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (Manohar Parrikar IDSA), India / Former India's Ambassador to Japan) / Saroj Kumar MOHANTY (Professor, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), India)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/events/20121601/handout.html

"Keeping India in East Asia's Economic Pact"
by Shiro ARMSTRONG (Visiting Scholar, RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/users/shiro-armstrong/serial/001.html

"Multinationals and Structural Transformation"
by Vanessa ALVIAREZ (UBC Sauder) / CHEN Cheng (Clemson University) / Nitya PANDALAI-NAYAR (University of Texas at Austin / NBER) / Liliana VARELA (LSE / CEPR) / YI Kei-Mu (University of Houston / Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas / NBER) / ZHANG Hongyong (Senior Fellow, RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/21120011.html

"Assessing Carbon Emissions Embodied in International Trade Based on Shared Responsibility"
by Palizha AIREBULE (Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank) / Haitao CHENG (Hitotsubashi University) / ISHIKAWA Jota (Faculty Fellow, RIETI)
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/21120009.html

[List of discussion papers]
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/act_dp.html

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