U.S. and East Asia

This has nothing to do with social movements, but since my other research is about East Asian IR, I'll use this space to report important developments. At the Asia-Pacific Peace Conference hosted by AFSC last month, John Feffer alerted everyone to Hillary Clinton's Foreign Policy article, "America's Pacific Century." It didn't strike me as particularly profound. No revolutionary ideas. But it does appear to signal a shift in U.S. foreign policy priorities from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific. Clinton's article was no doubt timed for release a month prior to Obama's nine day trip to the region, which included his attendance at APEC in Honolulu, and for the first time, the East Asian Summit in Indonesia.

Somewhat more significant was yesterday's announcement of a new security pact with Australia which would permit the stationing of U.S. troops. This has irked the Chinese and alarmed peace activists who question whether new bases will feed into the security dilemma.

U.S. troops in Australia aren't directed at China per se. Why would the U.S. want conflict with China? But the pact with Australia does broadcast a larger message to all regional actors (including China) that the U.S. intends to remain active in the region. Call it a "warning" to China to "behave" (i.e. comply to international norms, not provoke neighbors on the South China Sea, etc...). Does this set the U.S. and China on a dangerous path? We shall see...