The United States is not disengaging from Asia and is instead “digging in” to maintain a favourable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, according to Elbridge Colby, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.
US Commitment to Asia
Colby reiterated the U.S. interest in the region as he called for greater burden-sharing and “partnership, not dependency”. The Philippines, the United States’ oldest treaty ally in Asia, is the first stop on a Southeast Asian trip that also will take Colby to Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia.
Colby said maintaining a favourable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific required a “posture of deterrence by denial along the First Island Chain” and pointed to what he said was a growing U.S. military commitment in the region. The First Island Chain refers to an area stretching from Japan down to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo.
When the US asks its allies and partners to step up, to invest more in their own defense, and to take responsibility for their own sovereign security, it is not signaling abandonment, but rather looking for partners, not protectorates. This approach emphasizes the importance of mutual cooperation and shared responsibility in maintaining regional stability.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
