This time I would like tentatively to share the insights and analysis of Dr. James Wallar, a senior associate with the Economics Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
His theme is “Comments on the U.S. Government’s Indo-Pacific Strategy Paper: Non-security Aspects” posted on March 9.
The Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States released February 11 is a creative and potentially useful approach compared to previous U.S. government initiatives.
The real question is whether the administration has the senior official staying power suggested by its labor-intensive approach.
Failure to fill the position of U.S. ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta suggests that, for the moment, rhetoric is running ahead of action.
Non-security topics are woven throughout the strategy: health, climate, clean energy, infrastructure, transportation, trade.
Some are clustered under different groups of countries in the “Build Connections” section: the Quad (Japan, Australia, India, and the United States) or “flexible groupings” of the Quad, ASEAN, and South Asia.
A few topics overlap with different groups. This is unduly complicated, difficult to staff, and a headache to track and record any progress.
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