President Barack Obama has an opportunity to take several steps toward his oft-anticipated and oft-postponed Asia pivot later this month. A visit to Vietnam before attending the G7 summit in Japan puts Asia squarely on the agenda.
And when Asia is on the agenda, China is at the center. From an economic engine to a military superpower, China impacts nearly everything that happens in Asia.
As for how that interests the U.S., Defense Secretary Ash Carter told graduating cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy that managing historic change the Asia-Pacific “will be in your lifetimes the single region of the world of most consequence for America. It’s where more than half of humankind lives, half the global economy, ad that’s only increasing.”
Last month, Carter gave witness to the importance of the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific when he toured the USS John C. Stennis, operating in the South China Sea.
It all has experts reading the Chinese tea leaves.
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The Pentagon Is Endangering Our Economic Ties With China
America’s economic ties with China have been out of whack with national security policy since Deng Xiaoping’s reforms began opening China in the early 1980s. Business booms, while military and geopolitical competition intensifies.
America’s Military is Getting Deadly Serious about China, Russia, and North Korea
The Third Offset Strategy is about retaining America’s lead in military power in the face of potential challenges by Russia, China, North Korea and others. The strategy takes aim at enemy vulnerabilities and weak spots with plans to exploit them in wartime.
ISIS Loses Ground With Recapture of Ramadi
It was hard not to feel good about news that Iraqi forces backed by U.S. military retook Ramadi, a key Iraqi city, from Islamic State militants despite the cautious words from top Obama administration officials. “While Ramadi is not yet fully secure and additional parts of the city still must be retaken, Iraq’s national flag now flies above the provincial government center and enemy forces have suffered a major defeat,” said Secretary of State John Kerry in a statement. The mission to defeat ISIS remains long and unpredictable. But after a year of seemingly endless bad news about the war on terror – not the least of which was the brutal and deadly mass shooting of civilians at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California by a radicalized Muslim couple – it feels good to hold onto this moment of hope.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter on New Timetable for US Military in Afghanistan
Carter said the decision to delay withdrawal of American troops sends “a strong message to the international community that the United States is committed to Afghanistan.”
Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Iran Nuke Deal
From an op-ed published in USA Today on Sept. 7, 2015
“On Iran, the deal will prevent that nation from getting a nuclear weapon in a comprehensive and verifiable way…. The military option is real today and, as Secretary of Defense, I will be sure that remains true well into the future.”