Pacific Century Institutions: Conceiving Options for United States Policy.

摘要

The Pacific Rim has long been viewed as an area of increasing importance, and the United States has recently shifted its foreign policy focus to the region. In the fall of 2011, the President of the United States announced troop rotations to Australia and expressed concern over China's military buildup. The Secretary of State has repeatedly lectured China on its trade and labor policies. To many it would appear that the United States and China are on a collision course, but in reality the two countries are co- dependent. Imported goods from China pervade U.S. markets, and sustained economic growth in China is dependent upon exports to the United States. To be sure, Chinese and American interests can and will come into conflict, but they need not be directly opposed on every issue. There is a strong basis for common ground on economic and security issues, but this common ground must be cultivated to bear fruit. The most obvious obstacles to cooperation are a divergence in values and a growing power rivalry. A less obvious obstacle is the lack of international institutions, treaty organizations, or forums through which to channel communications. Although policy statements to date have not included a vision for improved international institutions for the Pacific region, they really should. Institutions and treaty organizations are not a panacea, but they do provide the opportunity for structured, routine, enduring communications and can serve as forums to generate consensus or mitigate disputes. A treaty organization for the Pacific would be the foundation for peace, stability, and progress in the 21st Century. The stakes are simply too high to ignore options for an institutional framework for economic and security cooperation in the Pacific. The foremost leadership challenge for the United States in the Pacific is to effectively interact with the Chinese.