Tag Archives: Asia

Essay: U.S. Should Consider Establishing a South China Sea International Operations Center in Indonesia

Essay: U.S. Should Consider Establishing a South China Sea International Operations Center in Indonesia

Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, walks with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Cmdr. Kazutaka Sugimoto on Feb. 6, 2015. US Navy Photo

Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, walks with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Cmdr. Kazutaka Sugimoto on Feb. 6, 2015. US Navy Photo

The incoming U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) commander, Adm. Harry B. Harris, testified before Congress late last year that “China’s rise as a regional military and global economic power, and in particular, its rapid military modernization and assertive behavior toward regional neighbors present opportunities and challenges that must be managed effectively. This is our most enduring challenge.” Read More

Work: Sixty Percent of U.S. Navy and Air Force Will Be Based in Pacific by 2020

Work: Sixty Percent of U.S. Navy and Air Force Will Be Based in Pacific by 2020

Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work on Sept. 30, 2014 at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. CFR Photo

Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work on Sept. 30, 2014 at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. CFR Photo

More than half of U.S. Air Force and Navy forces will be based in the Asia Pacific by 2020 as part of the Pentagon’s rebalance to the Pacific, Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work said during a Tuesday address at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. Read More

'We Can Ill Afford Not To Be Ready' : WEST Day Two

‘We Can Ill Afford Not To Be Ready’ : WEST Day Two

The commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet told a morning audience at the WEST 2013 convention that the Pentagon’s decision to rebalance its focus to Asia and the Pacific is strategically sound militarily and is vital in helping to ensure a stable world economy.

Adm. Cecil D. Haney noted that 15 of the world’s 20 largest seaports are in Asia and the Pacific, and $5.3 trillion in global trade passes through the South China Sea alone. “Clearly, we, the United States of America, have an interest in that area,” Haney said.

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Africa Demands more U.S. Focus

Africa Demands more U.S. Focus

A good fighter does not stand in one place fending off blows, he moves around the ring. America’s Asian Pivot is merely a minor weight shift. America has been standing with a foot in Asia and Europe for over half a century; we need to step forward to the ring’s greatest area of potential: Africa.

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Sailor with children during U.S. Africa Command’s 2012 Africa Partnership Station
[U.S. Navy Photo]

While the appropriate focus for America’s next step, Africa is prevented in reaching its full potential from the dangers of terrorist groups in vast uncontrolled areas and unstable governments. Africa has the greatest potential energy to drive future changes in the international system. America should pursue further engagement to ensure that those changes realize the best of the continent’s potential, rather than the worst.

Any sense that America’s pivot toward Asia is a major policy change ignores the robust presence that already exists. In the June 2 post, Information Dissemination notes that the Navy’s shift to Asia started long before the pivot talk even began. With bases in Korea, Japan and Guam , the U.S. has no small military presence in the region. The Association of South East Asian Nations may not be as effective or as unified as NATO, but it is still an active and engaged institution of regional diplomacy. And the U.S. has a number of strong bilateral relationships, from Japan to Thailand to Australia. Those who think a pivot to the Western Pacific is a major policy change haven’t been watching policy. America has in the past, if not pivoted, at least kept glancing over its Pacific shoulder.

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