Polarization is a state of international relations familiar from the Cold War era. Even through there was an early non-aligned movement and some states insisted on their strategic autonomy, the process of polarization continued. China spent almost a decade denouncing both camps before it reversed its position and joined one of them. Is polarization reviving some three decades after the end of the Cold War? The answer is “yes” in Europe in the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis, and, I argue, “yes” in Asia, as the first and most obvious arena of Sino-US strategic competition or confrontation. With Sino-Russian relations drawing closer and US alertness to this growing, the question is: How are other states in Asia responding to this ever more apparent state of polarization? The dynamics of economic interests and lack of a clear-cut ideology of confrontation may obscure the process in both Asia and Europe, but they should not blind us to strategic reality.

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