Stewarding Pax Americana: how core allies respond when the hegemon wavers.
As doubts deepen about American reliability amid growing challenges to the international order from Russia and China, this article examines the responses of four core US allies: Australia, Japan, Poland and the United Kingdom. While many US allies and partners are hedging, these four are doubling do...
| Publicado en: | International Affairs Vol. 102; no. 4; pp. 1245 - 1266 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jul2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195222512&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195222512 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00205850 INA jtl: International Affairs issn: 00205850 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2026 vid: 102 iid: 4 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195222512 10.1093/ia/iiag059 ppf: 1245 ppct: 21 formats: tig: atl: Stewarding Pax Americana: how core allies respond when the hegemon wavers. aug: au: James, William D affil: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore su: United Kingdom Poland United States Australia Japan Hegemony International cooperation Military strategy International organization Intention sug: subj: Hegemony International cooperation United Kingdom Poland United States Australia Japan Military strategy International organization Intention keyword: alliances AUKUS burden-sharing collective deterrence copyrightHolder:The Royal Institute of International Affairs copyrightYear:2026 defence cooperation East Asia European security great power competition hegemony Indo-Pacific inLanguage:en international order minilateralism publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag059 stewarding US foreign policy alliances AUKUS burden-sharing collective deterrence copyrightHolder:The Royal Institute of International Affairs copyrightYear:2026 defence cooperation East Asia European security great power competition hegemony Indo-Pacific inLanguage:en international order minilateralism publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag059 stewarding US foreign policy ab: As doubts deepen about American reliability amid growing challenges to the international order from Russia and China, this article examines the responses of four core US allies: Australia, Japan, Poland and the United Kingdom. While many US allies and partners are hedging, these four are doubling down on the US-led order. They are doing so partly through internal and external balancing: bolstering their own defence capabilities and deepening cooperation with the US through initiatives like AUKUS. Beyond this, a new pattern of cooperation among core allies is taking shape, organized without Washington's lead but aligned with the order it has long championed. The article conceptualizes this as stewarding—the practice by which core allies reinforce one another through lateral security agreements, defence-industrial partnerships and minilateral arrangements during periods of hegemonic drift. Unlike hedging, stewarding reflects continued investment in the principles of the US-led order, with core allies assuming greater responsibility for its upkeep. Examples such as the Global Combat Air Programme and the 'quasi-alliance' between Australia and Japan illustrate how these states are building cross-regional networks that strengthen collective deterrence—operating alongside, rather than under or against, the United States. Stewarding thus complements balancing as a strategy of order maintenance under conditions of hegemonic uncertainty. The concept illuminates allied agency and a dimension of their behaviour that balancing theory does not fully capture. Beneath the current turbulence, there is striking continuity in core allies' commitment to the US-led order, alongside a limited but meaningful shift in how they organize to sustain it. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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