As the Indo-Pacific emerges as the world’s most strategically consequential region and competition with China intensifies, the United States must adapt its approach if it seeks to preserve its power and sustain regional stability and prosperity. Yet as China grows more powerful and aggressive and the United States appears increasingly unreliable, the Indo-Pacific has become riven with uncertainty. These dynamics threaten to undermine the region’s unprecedented peace and prosperity.U.S. Strategy in the Asian Century offers vital perspective on the future of power dynamics in the Indo-Pacific, focusing on the critical roles that American allies and partners can play. Abraham M. Denmark argues that these alliances and partnerships represent indispensable strategic assets for the United States. They will be necessary in any effort by Washington to compete with China, promote prosperity, and preserve a liberal order in the Indo-Pacific. Blending academic rigor and practical policy experience, Denmark analyzes the future of major-power competition in the region, with an eye toward American security interests. He details a pragmatic approach for the United States to harness the power of its allies and partners to ensure long-term regional stability and successfully navigate the complexities of the new era.
Abraham M. Denmark is director of the Asia Program and a senior fellow at the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and an adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University. He previously served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, for which he received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.
PrefaceIntroduction: Challenged Friendships in Challenging Times1. Order and Power in the Indo-Pacific2. A Region in Flux3. Empowering US Allies and Partners in the Indo-Pacific4. Country StudiesConclusion: Toward an Allied Strategy in the Indo-PacificNotesSelected BibliographyIndex
With insight and urgency, Denmark draws on his years in the Pentagon to describe how the United States can successfully adapt to rapid technological change and dramatic geopolitical evolution in the Indo-Pacific. U.S. Strategy in the Asian Century is a must-read for anyone interested in how the U.S. can sustain its leadership in the world’s most important region.