Nile Bowie
RT
As Washington pursues its rebalancing strategy, Obama’s historic four-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific has subtly altered the region’s security dynamics.
"The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay," declared President
Obama during his speech to the Australian parliament in 2011, following
his announcement to deploy 2,500 marines to northern Australia to help
protect American interests across Asia.
Obama’s trip had two primary
dimensions: deepening the role of the US military throughout the
Asia-Pacific, and shoring up support for the faltering Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) agreement, an all-encompassing trade deal led by
Washington that would embolden transnational corporate power at great
public expense.
As the Obama administration moves
ahead on plans to relocate some 60 percent of its navy into the region,
Washington's current Asia doctrine is grounded in the notion that no
other power can be allowed to reach parity with the United States.
Washington’s strategy to pivot toward the Asia-Pacific is adorned with
the language of pragmatism and neutrality, and despite repeated denials,
the Obama administration’s actions are quite transparently aimed at
capping the influence of a rapidly developing China.
Washington has inserted itself into
complicated, long-standing historical and territorial disputes under the
guise of neutrality, which risks potentially setting the stage for an
irreparable strategic blunder: antagonizing two major world powers
simultaneously at a time when relations between the US and Russia are
already deteriorating over the crisis in Ukraine.
