Middle Powers in Asia Pacific Multilateralism: A Differential Framework. By Sarah Teo.

• Date: 01 August 2023
• Author: Narine, Shaun

Middle Powers in Asia Pacific Multilateralism: A Differential Framework. By Sarah Teo. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press, 2023. Hardcover: 203pp.

Sarah Teo provides a valuable contribution to an underexamined and undertheorized area of International Relations: what are middle powers and what makes them successful or influential within multilateral institutions? She approaches this question by setting out an original "differentiation" framework that focuses on what makes middle powers distinct from other states in the international system as well as on the strategies they adopt to "maintain their relevance and importance in international politics" (p. 4). The case studies are Australia, Indonesia and South Korea and their respective roles within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and the East Asia Summit (EAS). For a definition, Teo contends that middle powers are states that "quantitatively rank below the major powers" but above other states, that identify and are regarded by others as middle powers and that employ strategies such as "investing in multilateralism" and relying on "soft power" to advance their goals (p. 29).

"Differentiation", as a theoretical approach, tries to explain what makes middle powers "different" from other states by focusing on "the mechanisms and processes that make it possible for middle powers to employ certain...