US Strategy in East Asia

In February 2024, which was the second anniversary of the publication of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, US government agencies, including the State Department (which published the document), the Department of Defense, and the Department of Commerce, published reports on the Biden administration’s actions in achieving the goals set out in the document. Despite these actions and initiatives, American analysts and political elites believe that the US government lacks a coherent and effective strategy in East Asia for various reasons, and its ineffective and impractical actions are solely within the framework of containing or confronting China in this region, and so far it has not been able to achieve these goals. US Indo-Pacific Strategy in East Asia The latest document published on the US strategy in East Asia, entitled “US Indo-Pacific Strategy”, in February 2022, pursues several goals and principles. An open and free Indo-Pacific; A connected Indo-Pacific; A prosperous Indo-Pacific; A secure Indo-Pacific; Indo-Pacific resilience against transnational threats. Indo-Pacific Strategy 2 years after publication: A review of the Biden administration’s serious actions and efforts shows that the focus of the administration’s main and most effective actions is mainly on containing and confronting China and North Korea. To achieve the goals set out in this document, the United States, under Biden’s leadership, has pursued the following strategies over the past three years: Developing bilateral partnerships with regional allies: This approach seems to be the most effective action taken by the Biden administration over the past two years. Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam were the most important countries that became closer to the United States under this approach. The effort to bring South Korea and Japan closer and then the trilateral meeting of the leaders of these two countries with Biden at Camp David was the culmination of these efforts. Of course, there are faults in America’s relations with some countries in the region that American experts and analysts emphasize. For example, Thailand, which has serious differences with the United States in the region, and secondly, ignoring South Asian countries other than India, are the most important of these faults in the bilateral relations of the United States with East Asia. Increasing direct pressure on China and North Korea: Increasing pressure on China and North Korea in the past three years in various areas of human rights, military, security, politics, etc. was accompanied by great fluctuations. In relation to China, in terms of military and security, pressure in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, sending military equipment to the Taiwan Strait, and human rights in Xinjiang were prominent. Of course, controlling the export of industrial technologies and semiconductor equipment to China was of great importance. In relation to North Korea, in addition to the issue of human rights pursued in the Security Council, severe sanctions and preventing their violations, and military cooperation with South Korea were prominent. Creating and strengthening regional and trans-regional alliances: Regional and trans-regional alliances were one of the most important strategies of the United States for advancing its policy in East Asia in the past decade. ACOUS, QUAD, trilateral cooperation with Japan and the Philippines, trilateral cooperation with Japan and South Korea, cooperation with ASEAN, and inviting and extending the reach of European allies to the region were the most important actions of the US administration to create and strengthen regional and trans-regional alliances. Trade and investment relations in East Asia: Looking at the two-year performance of the Biden administration to achieve trade and investment goals in the region in accordance with the country’s Indo-Pacific strategy, the following initiatives and actions are of great importance. Hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2023; Establishing the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework; A program of cooperation with G7 partners to build quality infrastructure; Launching the US-Taiwan Initiative for Trade in the 21st Century; Advancing cooperation in the field of critical and emerging technologies. Relations with China: In relation to China, apart from the spy balloon crisis, there was relative calm in relations, and even at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco and the meeting of the leaders of the two countries, improvements were noticeable, and good relations were established between the foreign, treasury, and trade ministers of the two countries, and the outlook and plans for 2024 are also positive. Media elites and think tanks’ assessment of US foreign policy in East Asia: Despite the increased efforts that the Biden administration has made over the past three years to advance the country’s strategy in East Asia, American political elites believe that this administration does not have a coherent and effective strategy in the region, given the importance of the region for maintaining American supremacy in the world and strengthening the liberal international order. Each of the elites also mentioned various reasons for the Biden administration’s failure to implement the US Indo-Pacific strategy, the most important of which are: Imbalance in the development of relations with countries in the East Asian region; China’s extensive economic influence in the region; Increasing tensions in the Middle East and Europe; The dominance of the Cold War mentality over US strategy in East Asia. Analysis and Assessment What is presented as a fundamental weakness in US foreign policy in East Asia is influenced by the Cold War mentality that has been constantly strengthened since 2011. It is predicted that for at least the next year, as the US election process is underway and the crisis in Europe and the Middle East continues, we will not witness a significant change in US grand strategy in East Asia. Some even believe that even with Trump coming to power, there will be no significant change in US strategy in this region.