The Great Power Competition Volume 1, 1st ed. 2021
Regional Perspectives on Peace and Security

Over the past decade, the international political system has come to be characterized as a Great Power Competition in which multiple would-be hegemons compete for power and influence. Instead of a global climate of unchallenged United States dominance, revisionist powers, notably China and Russia alongside other regional powers, are vying for dominance through political, military, and economic means. A critical battleground in the Great Power Competition is the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, and the Central Asia South Asia (CASA), also known as the Central Region.

With the planned withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan, the U.S. has stated its intention of shifting attention away from the CASA Region in favor of a more isolationist foreign policy approach. This book provides an in-depth understanding of the implications for this shift related to regional diplomacy & politics, economic opportunities & rivalries, security considerations & interests, and the information environment.  Amplifying the vital importance of success in the Central Region to U.S. prosperity and security, this volume advances dialogue in identifying key issues for stakeholders within and beyond the Central Region to gain a holistic perspective that better informs decision-making at various levels.

This collection of work comes from scholars, strategic thinkers, and subject matter experts who participated in the Great Power Competition Conference hosted by the University of South Florida, in partnership with the National Defense University Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Strategies in January 2020.

Dr. Adib Farhadi is an Assistant Professor and Faculty Director of Executive Education at the University of South Florida. His research, which is at the intersection of religion, politics, and conflict with a particular focus on the “Silk Road” Central and South Asia (CASA) Region, is the subject of his recent book, Countering Violent Extremism by Winning Hearts and Minds. He is the Director of the Great Power Competition Conference Series and a frequent presenter on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), Conflict Resolution, Strategic Negotiations & Communication, and Geoeconomics. Formerly Dr. Farhadi served in senior positions for Afghanistan and extensively advised the United States government and various other international organizations. Dr. Farhadi earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Canberra, M.A. from New York University, and B.S. from East Carolina University.

Dr. Anthony Masys is an Associate Professor and Director of Global Disaster Management, Humanitarian Assistance and Homeland Security. A former senior Air Force Officer, Dr. Masys has a BSc in Physics and MSc in Underwater Acoustics and Oceanography from the Royal Military College of Canada and a Ph.D. from the University of Leicester. He is Editor in Chief for Springer Publishing book series: Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications and holds various advisory board positions with academic journals and books series.

Dr. Masys is an internationally recognized author, speaker and facilitator and has held workshops on security, visual thinking, design thinking and systems thinking in Europe, Canada, South America, West Africa and Asia. He has published extensively in the domains of physics and the social sciences. 

Is the first collection to explicate, based on extensive case studies and various interdisciplinary perspectives, the Great Power Competition

Provides crucial context on how the current climate has come into being and how the future will be shaped

Offers critical conflict resolution insight, particularly in the case of Afghanistan