Book Launch: U.S. Strategy in the Asian Century
As competition between China and the United States intensifies, and as the Indo-Pacific emerges as the world鈥檚 most strategically consequential region, Washington must adapt its approach if it seeks to preserve its power and sustain regional stability and prosperity. U.S. Strategy in the Asian Century describes how the United States can navigate profound changes to the balance of power and the nature of power, empower its allies and partners, compete effectively with China, reestablish its leadership in the region, and rebuild the liberal order for the 21st century. On August 18, author and Asia Program Director Abraham Denmark, along with a panel of other experts, discussed his new book.
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U.S. Strategy in the Asian Century: Empowering Allies and Partners
Selected Quotes
Abraham Denmark
鈥淐learly, to my mind, the rise of China is one of the most significant geopolitical elements in the last twenty years. And as China鈥檚 power has risen and U.S.-China competition has intensified, scholars and policymakers have begun to look to history for lessons to inform how the U.S. should respond.鈥
鈥淎t its core, China is seeking what they call the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, in which China is stable and prosperous at home, and has significant external power鈥 But for the United States, what鈥檚 important to note is this is a major power unlike anything we鈥檝e seen before.鈥
鈥淥ne of the points the book makes is [that] our allies and partners, some of them have real assets here鈥攖hey have a lot to add. And so, for our efforts to maintain our technological edge, we need to bring our allies and partners [in] on the ground floor with the conceptual level and think about how we can work with them on developing technologies, fielding technologies鈥攕o that it鈥檚 not just a U.S. effort to maintain a technological advantage but rather it鈥檚 a U.S. plus Japan plus Australia, etc.鈥
鈥淭he Chinese are very good at figuring out what our priorities are, what do we really want, and then holding those things somewhat hostage to what they want. So that, for example, they鈥檒l say we know you want to cooperate with us on North Korea, but how can we cooperate with you on North Korea if you鈥檙e still selling arms to Taiwan or meeting with the Dalai Lama, or whatever it may be. And the key there is that we have to maintain our principles and stick to our interests.鈥
Ashley J. Tellis
鈥淒espite all the changes in Asia in the last thirty-odd years, I think it is still an American-dominated order that defines the landscape in the broadest sense of the Indo-Pacific. And that of course leads to the conclusion that it is also ours to lose. And that is because it is our order and that order I think has still survived.鈥
鈥淓ven though our geopolitical structures are constantly being challenged by China, I鈥檓 actually amazed at how much they have endured. The alliances are still in relatively decent shape, despite the efforts of President Trump. Even the alliance of Korea, which I think is at greatest risk compared to all of our other bilateral alliances in Asia, has survived to this day.鈥
鈥淯.S. engagement in the economies of Asia, particularly with respect to investment, is still very strong. Now, I think a simple gravitational model of trade would predict that China will remain the largest trader in the region with respect to goods/merchandise trade. But, we can more than stand our own with respect to investment. And so, even though China is creating, inevitably, an Asian economic system that is deeply linked with China, it鈥檚 not going to be to the exclusion of the United States.鈥
Robert Litwak
鈥淥ne area that I think that is requiring future research is your points about complex hedging strategy, because it鈥檚 really a continuum of possible relationships. And I think it鈥檚 really going to require very deft handling by a U.S. administration to manage these different portfolios and to prevent 鈥 that our allies will conclude that bandwagoning鈥攖hat is, cutting the best deal they can in Beijing鈥攊s better than dealing with the U.S.鈥
Speakers
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Indo-Pacific Program
The Indo-Pacific Program promotes policy debate and intellectual discussions on US interests in the Asia-Pacific as well as political, economic, security, and social issues relating to the world鈥檚 most populous and economically dynamic region. Read more