Hedging by the Gaya Confederacy of Korea: Historical Lessons for Contemporary East Asia?

Brendan M Howe

East Asian Policy (EAP), 2024, vol. 16, issue 04, 45-58

Abstract: Hedging is an essentially contested concept. Originally borrowed from the discipline of economics, it has become prevalent in the discourse on policy prescription in the Asia-Pacific. It is most often referenced with regard to geopolitical challenges of great power contestation faced by secondary powers in Northeast and Southeast Asia. Hedging is often regarded as a strategy to maintain relevance and autonomy in the face of competition between the United States and China. This article investigates the prevalence of hedging in the East Asian region, followed by a case analysis of Gaya. The author offers policy recommendations based on insights gained from ancient Gaya. He argues that, like the polities of the Gaya confederacy, contemporary second-tier states in the Asia-Pacific should cooperate closely, with the common objective of navigating the US–China rivalry. By ensuring their survival and prosperity, they can also contribute to the development of a geopolitical environment characterised by “co-existence†.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1793930524000278
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:eapxxx:v:16:y:2024:i:04:n:s1793930524000278

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S1793930524000278

Access Statistics for this article

East Asian Policy (EAP) is currently edited by Jessica Loon

More articles in East Asian Policy (EAP) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().