Asia is at a dangerous moment. China is rising fast, and its regional ambitions are growing. Reckless North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un may be assembling more nuclear weapons, despite diplomatic efforts to eradicate his arsenal. Japan is building up its military, throwing off constitutional constraints imposed after World War II. The United States, for so long a stabilising presence in Asia, is behaving erratically: The possibility of global catastrophe looms ever closer.

Geopolitical expert Brendan Taylor is Associate Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University. His new book The Four Flashpoints, examines the areas of Asia most likely to erupt in sudden and violent conflict: the Korean Peninsula, the East China Sea, the South China Sea and Taiwan. He is in conversation with Professor Nick Bisley, Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe University.

This event is the Melbourne book launch of Brendan Taylor's The Four Flashpoints: How Asia Goes to War, published by La Trobe University Press. It was recorded at the State Library of Victoria on 28th August 2018.