After the Second World War, maritime Asia recorded high levels of growth, thereby bringing the "Indo-Pacific" construct to prominence. The region`s intersecting interests, including those of major maritime trading and strategic powers, significantly shape developments across the globe. The landscape of the Indo-Pacific is strategically bound by India in the west (although in the future, it will inevitably stretch farther westwards to incorporate at least the eastern coast of the African continent), the US in the east, Japan and South Korea in the north, and Australia in the south. This region encompasses more than half the earth's surface, supports more than half the world's population, and contributes as much to the global GDP.