February 12, 2022
Yesterday on February 11, 2022 the Biden administration in the United States released its Indo Pacific Strategy.
This 15 page document lays out an official approach to the Indo- Pacific, the broad region stretching from the United States' west coast to the Middle East and Africa. The United States and the world's future is deeply tied to the region, home to most of the world's population and the majority of its economic growth.
The document sets an objective of a free and open, connected, prosperous, secure and resilient, Indo Pacific and outlines a number of steps to achieve this goal. These involve shaping China's strategic environment, building a balance of influence and offering a positive, affirmative vision for the region. Up front, there's a clear acknowledgment that most regional challenges are due to China's quote "harmful behavior".
Although China looms large, BIden administration officials have been keen to point out that this Indo Pacific Strategy is not the same as their overall China strategy. They perceive the China challenge to be broader, more global and across many domains, although most apparent in the Indo Pacific. In this respect, this Indo Pacific strategy represents broad continuity with the Trump Administration.
Another area of continuity and one of particular importance to me involves the elevated role of India. "We support a strong India as a partner" the document clearly states. It also promises to support India's role as a net security provider. The Quad involving Australia, India, Japan and the United States is projected as a central building block of U. S. engagement with the region.
Now that's not to suggest that US allies in the Indo Pacific have been downgraded. The importance of Japan and South Korea, and the sometimes vexed relationship between them, is emphasized as are new initiatives such as the AUKUS arrangement, that not only consolidate security relations with Australia but involves a key European ally in the UK.
In fact, the role of emerging technologies, of which AUKUS is one important element, is a cardinal theme throughout the strategy. Additionally, engagement with the Southeast Asian countries that comprise ASEAN and other states such as in the South pacific is very much a focus. The Biden administration is very sensitive to requests that these countries should not feel compelled to choose between the United States and China.
So they are at pains to highlight an affirmative role on the part of the U. S. Bringing in European partners in the region is another recurring theme. So while largely a continuation of the Trump administration's approach, there are some clear indications of priorities for the Democratic Party. Chief amongst these is climate change, but also non- proliferation and human rights.
Whether these priorities can be sustained under future administrations is certainly questionable. As a whole, the document bears the strong imprint of Kurt Campbell, who is currently Indo Pacific Coordinator at the National Security Council and his proteges such as Mira Rapp -Hooper, Ed Kagan, Laura Rosenberger and Rush Doshi. Their approach to the Indo Pacific has been criticized by some Democratic Party policy stalwarts who believe it's too confrontational, and this applies mostly to China hands. While the Biden administration can be credited with recognizing and building upon some of the changes made by the Trump administration on Indo Pacific policy, including recognizing the very term and also recognizing the broad challenge posed by China, it's still a hotly debated topic in D C policy circles.
Finally, if there is one major point of criticism or concern, it might apply to the lack of detail on a U. S. economic strategy for the region. This is in some ways understandable given constraining domestic priorities in the United States and the lack of support for forward leaning trade agreements in the U. S. Congress. It remains to be seen whether the Indo Pacific Economic Framework, which has been promised, that involves technological transformations, labor and environmental standards and resilient supply chains, will be sufficiently attractive in the Indo Pacific and enable the United States to better compete with China.