American Conspiracy: Strategic Suspicion and US Reengagement in Asia

For almost 30 years, East Asia—including Southeast Asia—has been relatively peaceful. No interstate war has occurred since the border wars between China and Vietnam ended in the early 1980s, and the countries of this region have enjoyed rapid economic development as a result of the "peace dividend." However, 2010 witnessed several incidents that may indicate a shift away from the "East Asian peace." There is a rising strategic suspicion that could bring Asia back to Cold War–style confrontation and a new arms race. This suspicion and its accompanying conspiracy theories have spawned their own discourse and captured the public imagination, exacerbating a heavy, pernicious political atmosphere in this region.