Return to Oz

If US President Barack Obama appears to be more of a “Pacific” president than a transatlanticist,it will have to do with more than his being born in Hawaii in the American Pacific. The Obama administration has seized on what it perceives as both a cause for concern and an opportunity to return to the Asia Pacific. The US,till the early post-Cold War era,determined the region’s security framework. The question of a “return”,therefore,has less to do with the Americans ever going away — technically they never did,although they had shifted their focus — and more to do with power projections,keeping in mind the geopolitical and geoeconomic contours of the near future. In Canberra,marking six decades of US-Australia military ties,Obama emphasised American commitment to stay in the region for the long haul,notwithstanding its economic troubles and budget cuts,and he will likely say so again at the East Asia summit,the first attended by a US president.

The US will station 2,500-odd marines in Darwin,beginning with 250. Not only is this the first US military deployment in Australia since World War II,but also the first time since the Vietnam War that the US has increased its military personnel in the area. While there has been much talk of Washington “pivoting” away from its costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,Southeast Asian and Pacific Rim countries are welcoming a larger US presence in defining a new century’s security template. Framing the developments is China’s rise,which has determined Washington’s toughening tone. The territorial disputes in the South China Sea,about who owns which part of it,especially complicate the matter,with Vietnam particularly jittery. However,irrespective of the Chinese navy’s blue-water ambitions,the US is seeking to strategically position itself to project power onto the important global trade routes through the South China Sea.

India,too,has an interest in ensuring the global commons stay open and free. So,as things change in its neighbourhood,Delhi ought to wake up to this new world order and utilise the opportunities thrown up to dynamically involve itself in shaping the new Asian security order.