C. Raja Mohan

on the future of ‘the Quad’ (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue)

Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at National University of Singapore Fisher Family Fellow, 2013-2014

The greatest challenge to the Quad lies in dispelling the concern and skepticism in the wide theatre that the Indo-Pacific region is. As the Quad begins to consolidate itself, it needs to replace the negative narrative around it as an anti-China coalition with a positive narrative about standing for public goods in the region. This would involve a sustained Quad effort to enhance its own collective activity while finding areas for cooperative activity with different key states as well as regional groupings in the region. The greatest opportunity for the Quad lies in aligning itself with the deepest sentiment across the region for the preservation of territorial integrity and economic sovereignty. As nations that have only recently won independence, they have no desire to cede these to a dominant power. That sentiment is also a natural antidote to elite capture by other powers through a variety of means. The Quad could emerge as a defender of these values, of individual states against the prospects for new hegemonism in the region.

What advice do you have for the next generation of diplomatic practitioners?

To be successful, the next generation of diplomats must be acutely sensitive to two important trends: One is the great churn in the domestic politics of most major democracies that is upending the conventional wisdom on range of issues. The other is the technological revolution that is accelerating political change within and among nations.