The first decade of the twenty-first century in the region was initially marked by the American focus on the ‘global war against terror’, leading to the US being constrained by overstretching its military in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, culminating in it being dragged down by a financial crisis and an economic downturn largely of its own making in 2008-9. Second, the decade was marked by the astonishing rise of China, which building on its rapid economic growth rates and its growing exports became a major player nor only in the region, but also in the world as a whole. These two development led the incoming Obama administration in 2009 to seek China out as a necessary partner for addressing global and regional problems. With China emerging largely unscathed from the global economic downturn and with America seemingly bogged down politically as well as economically, a new Chinese diplomatic assertiveness became evident.