By Lyle Goldstein
With the fate of European security and the volatile U.S.-Russian relationship hanging in the balance, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Fiji in mid-February, promising “we see our future in the Indo-Pacific,” and pledging to build an embassy in the Solomon Islands, the scene of recent turmoil.
Blinken’s tour across the region was timed to coincide with a release of the Biden administration’s new Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States. While the new strategy does make some helpful refinements to the original Indo-Pacific strategy written by the Trump administration, it nevertheless falls well short when it comes to developing a coherent logic for where, how and why the U.S. might resort to the use of force in this vast region.
Thus, acute issues ranging from the Sino-Indian border to the reefs in the South China Sea to the ultimate flashpoint of Taiwan are simply glossed over with anodyne references to “rules-based approaches” and “integrated deterrence.” Strategists will not find any genuine answers to the myriad American security quandaries in the Asia-Pacific in this document.
This piece was originally published in Defense News on February 24, 2022. Read more HERE.