Soft balancing in the regions: causes, characteristics and consequences

Abstract US decline and retrenchment is increasing the importance of regional dynamics across the international system. Over the past decade, International Relations scholars have described and conceptualized this development variously as ‘de-centred globalism’, a ‘multi-order world’, a ‘multiplex world’ or a multicultural ‘no one's world’, but the links between the regional and global levels and the roles and functions of regional institutions in power politics continue to be poorly understood. This special section uses the analytical lens of soft balancing—that is, attempts at restraining a threatening power through diplomatic and institutional delegitimation—to explore these links. Soft balancing has been used extensively to understand developments at the great power level, but its focus on diplomatic and institutional strategies holds considerable potential for explaining how rising powers, middle powers and smaller states seek to navigate the emerging international order. Contributors to the section discuss developments in the Indo-Pacific, central Asia, Europe and BRICS to answer questions such as: what are the characteristics of soft balancing in the regions? How do regional actors apply different soft balancing strategies? When and under what conditions will soft balancing strategies be effective? What is their impact on regional and global orders? This introduction offers an overview of soft balancing in theory and practice and their relevance to the world's regions.