The tug-of-war between realists and liberals in shaping decision-making policy is a main theme in this study on security in the Asia-Pacific region, which is dominated by the emerging power of China and the established powers of the United States and Japan. The remaining countries in the region are middle powers, some are independent from Chinese or US influence, and others are less so. How to convince the realists and liberals that they have to arrive at a convergence point in order to avoid conflict in the region is at the core of William T. Tow's study.

"This converging security approach, it will be maintained, represents the only effective means for Asia-Pacific regional security actors to define and implement a stable regional security order," Tow says in the introduction of the study.

Realism in international relations is defined as viewing the anarchical historical events in human behavior and in governments the way they are and not as the way they ought to be. Liberalism, by contrast, argues that international relations have moved beyond the anarchical stage and ought to be regulated and institutionalized by agreements among states, which implies a multilateral approach to solving problems. Realism deals more on a bilateral basis.

Tow says realists believe that China is a dissatisfied power, which will try to project its power beyond its borders and break out of its isolation. He says that if the argument were correct, China would not accept a multilateral approach. The liberals believe that China's nationalism is basically strong enough to contribute to regional and global stability.

The study explores the schools of thought between realists and liberals in Japan, the Koreas and Taiwan. North Korea and Taiwan are considered to be areas of potential conflict. Taiwan is considered one of the region's most liberal societies and most successful economies, yet it remains under threat of assimilation by mainland China. The military balance in the Taiwan Strait is explored by Tow, using the well-known events of 1996, when China test-fired missiles to try to deter democracy and independent tendencies in Taiwan, as a backdrop. Tow says South Korea and Taiwan are middle powers in the Asia-Pacific region because both are comparatively prosperous. But he says Taiwan, more than South Korea, remains dependent on the United States for weaponry as well as political support. The United States, however, has not been able to project a more consistent and coherent policy toward the Taiwan Strait and it prefers to operate within the ambiguous policy governing relations between the US, China and Taiwan. While Tow considers them middle powers, he says North Korea is more strategically independent than South Korea and Taiwan despite its economic woes. Tow urges realists and liberals to find a solution to their differences as far as aspects of nationalism, culture and ethnicity in the Korean peninsula and across the Taiwan Strait in order to provide an "analytical framework" that can reconcile diverse factors and interests, and can lead to the prevention of conflict.

The role of the United States is considered to be that of superpower and hegemony whether it is comfortable in that role or not. Whether or not China can be considered a "hostile hegemon" and the ways in which US interests can be used positively to avoid conflict are also explored. Countries in Southeast Asia are also playing an important role in shaping the security in the region.

Both realists and liberals now believe that a regional security complex is emerging in the Asia-Pacific region. A complex is defined as a group of countries whose security is linked and threats to one country cannot be taken in isolation from other countries. Tow says there is a need to integrate approaches to dealing with events from the points of view of realists and liberals in order to avoid conflict.