U.S. Policy Approaches for Maintaining Stability in the Asia-Pacific Region: History, Economics, and Soft Power.

摘要

Continued prosperity in Asia is integral to international events unfolding in the Twenty-First-Century. Successful U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific region requires clarity in the U.S. understanding of Asian history, China's perceptions of western motives, and better recognition of geo-political attitudes of regional states. Maintaining U.S. influence in the Asia-Pacific requires wider clarification of policy that recognizes changes in economic demographics and the geopolitical landscape. The U.S. should focus on three primary areas when determining policy in the Asia-Pacific region. First, more significance should be given to understanding history and cultural dynamics in the Asia-Pacific. Second, the U.S. must recognize that American economic primacy has diminished in the Asia-Pacific, and third, military might and "hard" power alone cannot answer the more difficult challenges presented there. Chinese perceptions about U.S. imperial aspirations are based on historical vestiges and greatly affect Sino-American relations. U.S. "rebalancing" policies in the Asia-Pacific further impact post Cold War international security issues and presents the potential for conflict between the world's two foremost economic powers. Territorial disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea, and Chinese historical claims in the region also hold the potential for crisis and instability. Following twelve years of Middle East conflict, the Obama Administration's apparent sudden "pivot" or rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific led to Chinese questions regarding U.S. motives. Long held Chinese concerns about American policy-makers' ambitions in China's presumed area of hegemony, if threatened, may drive China to use its new position as a global power to deny U.S. access to the region. U.S. interest in maintaining access to the Asia-Pacific will likely buttress China's application of anti-access, area denial (A2AD) strategies that seek to deny U.S. access. The relationship that the United Stat