This book was written during the Covid years. It focuses on the role of China and the US in Northeast Asia and South Asia and examines their traditional policies and the shape they had taken under Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. The aggressive approaches of these two leaders resulted in a lot of strain on the fabric of the delicate and balanced relationships in the regions. The book also asks if there is any role for India as a middle power in the emerging dynamics in these regions in order to develop a multipolar alternative. It concludes that the countries which are caught up in the frictions between the US and China will try to find alternative structures that address their specific concerns.