The Decline of US Hegemony and the Rise of Multi-Polar Security Architectures in Asia

Abstract

The decline of  US hegemony and the concomitant rise of multipolar security architectures in Asia is reshaping regional order and strategic behavior. This article examines how relative  US retrenchment driven by shifts in domestic politics, economic competition, and selective engagement interacts with the growing capabilities and institutional activism of regional powers to produce a more multipolar security environment across Asia. Using a qualitative, historical-comparative approach that integrates policy documents, official statements, and secondary literature, the study maps major security architectures formal and informal emerging in East, South, and Central Asia, and analyzes their drivers, structures, and implications. Key findings indicate that  US military primacy and institutional centrality are contested rather than abruptly ended: the United States remains highly capable but less able or willing to unilaterally shape outcomes. In response, regional actors are diversifying security arrangements: minilateral coalitions (Quad-type groupings), expanded Eurasian platforms (SCO and BRICS-associated security dialogues), and state-led hub-and-spoke partnerships are proliferating. This institutional diversification increases strategic complexity and produces both opportunities for burden-sharing and risks of fragmentation, misalignment, and normative divergence. Policy-relevant implications include the need for adaptive  US strategies that combine selective engagement with support for inclusive, interoperable frameworks; for regional states to pursue institutional complementarity rather than exclusive blocs; and for scholars to reconceptualize regional order as dynamic institutional pluralism rather than a binary hegemonic vs. post-hegemonic outcome. The article contributes to debates on hegemonic decline, regional order formation, and plural security governance by offering an integrative analytical framework and by highlighting avenues for cooperative stability amid rising multipolarity.

Keywords:  US Hegemony, Multipolarity, Asian Security Architectures, Institutional Pluralism, Indo-Pacific, Minilateralism