Taking a detour on his way back to the White House two months ago following the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Honolulu, President Barack Obama stopped in Australia to announce expanded U.S. military presence there to shore up alliances in Asia. While China was angered by the move, Obama now has announced a prudent policy of refocusing the armed forces on potential threats in Asia and the Pacific region.
That won’t necessarily mean an increase in military forces based in Hawaii, but the policy will increase the authority of the Honolulu-based U.S. Pacific Command, responsible for all American military forces in the Pacific and Indian oceans and southern Asia. Beginning with the plan to deploy 2,500 Marines in Australia, the plan would result in the first long-term expansion of U.S. military presence in the Pacific since the end of the Vietnam War.
No one is voicing fear of tumbling dominos, but Obama said Thursday that America "can’t afford to repeat the mistakes that have been made in the past — after World War II, after Vietnam — when our military was left ill prepared for the future."
While maintaining bases in Japan and South Korea, the U.S. presence in Southeast Asia has diminished, with the closing of major bases in the Philippines.
"As I made clear in Australia," Obama said, "we will be strengthening our presence in the Asia Pacific, and (military) budget reductions will not come at the expense of that critical region."
Obama is slowly but firmly disentangling the U.S. from nearly a decade of wars he inherited, in Iraq and Afghanistan — and now, after a comprehensive review by military and civilian leaders, refocusing the nation’s security priorities.
In addition to the shift to this part of the world, more emphasis will be placed on cyberwarfare, missile defense, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The president’s visionary strategy includes hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the military, but those would not be felt in the Pacific. For example, the Marine Corps would be reduced in personnel but would be reshaped with Marines to be deployed aboard ships as well as at bases west of Hawaii.
Chinese leaders reportedly were caught off guard by the new policy since it was indicated in Australia, but the policy is justified. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has rightfully characterized China’s military development as lacking transparency, and it should not be allowed to grow uncontested in the region.
Obama has said that China, the world’s largest exporter and producer of manufactured goods, would be welcomed into a new free-trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. However, that would require that Beijing allow its currency to rise in value, improve foreign producers’ intellectual property rights and limit or end subsidies to government-owned companies. Of course, that would require a major overhaul of China’s selfish economic development strategy.
When Obama announced the Australia deployment in November, Beijing accused him of escalating military tensions in the region. Some analysts voiced fear that the U.S. policy could backfire, risking a cold-war standoff with China.
They can call it what they like. The reality is that a stronger U.S. presence in Asia, both economically and militarily, is essential in achieving fair trade and peaceful relations throughout the region.
