Conceptualising a Heterarchical Regional Security Complex: The Case of the QUAD

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is one of the most prominent security arrangements to have emerged in the Indo-Pacific during the 21st century. This dialogue provides its founding members – the United States (US), India, Japan and Australia – with a platform to counteract the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) rising regional and global stature. The QUAD can be conceptualised as a Heterarchical Regional Security Complex (HRSC), a novel theoretical construct that involves the formation of regional clusters of like-minded states against a competitor because of its contrasting political system, security outlook and worldview. Indeed, the Quad is a heterarchical minilateral security arrangement that is based on a ‘diffusion of power’ logic against the PRC whose global projection is causing mini-superpower rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region.
Keywords: Indo-Pacific; Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad); regional security complex; heterarchy; minilateralism