For the first time, we have it within our grasp to fashion a credible, new Pax Pacifica—a multilateral, regional, rules-based order, anchored in the principles of the broader international system. And given China’s expanding international role, the new Pax Pacifica may ultimately be translatable into a wider peace, should Washington’s relative global power continue to decline. Importantly, at present, no one in Asia is seeking to replace Pax Americana with a Pax Sinica. Workable multilateral, rules-based orders are in a different category altogether, in which all legitimate stakeholders share responsibility for upholding the order.
Kevin Rudd: ‘The west isn’t ready for the rise of China’, New Statesman, July 11, 2012