United States Strategic Appraisal for Asia-Pacific

This paper will formulate a regional strategic appraisal for the United States in the Asia-Pacific region. The first part of the paper will examine the U.S. interests in this region, briefly describing the vital and important interests which must drive U.S. regional strategy. The second part of the paper will discuss current U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific as it relates to the stated interests. The third part of the paper will propose a regional strategy designed to best further these interests.

U.S. Interests in the Asia-Pacific Region

There are three vital United States interests in the Asia-Pacific region: (1) open access to economic markets; (2) a region free from domination by a single power or power bloc; and (3) governments dedicated to preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The first interest is vital because the Asia-Pacific region has the potential for becoming the largest single market for American goods and services and because China and Japan will soon have economies larger than any other countries, save the United States. This first vital interest leads directly to the second, for the rise of a power able to dominate such large economic market could economically attack the U.S. Finally, the U.S. must seek to curb the proliferation of WMDs in a region which is so economically vital to the United States.

Regional interests which are important to

. . .
ights, would accelerate China's integration into the World community. Consequently, the Administration has pressed issues such as the release of political prisoners and recognition of Tibetan autonomy (Albright, 1997, p. 52). Such demands have irritated not only Chinese government officials but also officials from other Asian countries who resent the superiority complex of the West (Mahbubani, 1995). The question, here, is whether tying Chinese integration to the adoption of Western cultural norms should be a vital part of the U.S. policy in this region. As stated earlier in this paper, the vital interests of U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific region are maintaining open economic markets, ensuring that no one nation is able to decisively dominate the region, and preventing the spread of WMDs. The pursuit of none of these interests requires that the most important nations in the region adopt Western cultural norms. In fact, U.S. policy in the region seems to place too much emphasis upon the pursuit of an interest which is not vital, but merely important. U.S. policymakers must make the distinction between the relative value of the two sets of interests and adopt policies which place more emphasis upon the vital interests. Reco
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
North Korea, China Japan, Soviet Union, Taylor Kim, West Mahbubani, Statement Objective, Cold War, Statement Onjective, United Wilborn, Consequently Asians, asia-pacific region, economic markets, north korea, western cultural, nations region, strategic studies, soviet union, chinese leaders, trade routes, china japan, army war college, studies asia-pacific pp, regional strategic studies, carlisle army war, strategic studies asia-pacific,
Approximate Word count = 5648
Approximate Pages = 23 (250 words per page)

More Essays on United States Strategic Appraisal for Asia-Pacific