October 25, 2017

Trump’s Asian Security Dilemma

President Trump’s upcoming five-country Asian tour takes place amid deepening worries about security trends across the region. North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs menace American allies and the homeland itself. China’s combination of ambition and improving military capabilities threatens to upend the balance of power. Add to these concerns the trafficking of narcotics, maritime piracy, increased cyberattacks and the need to respond to large-scale natural disasters. The demand for U.S. attention and resources in Asia is increasing—just as U.S. defense spending has been falling in recent years.

America thus faces a dilemma. It wishes to preserve an Asian balance of power, reinforce the rules-based regional order, avoid conflict and maintain stable economic relations with China—all at the same time, and all at acceptable cost. Yet, the previously privileged position of the United States in the region is under new pressure. A congressionally-mandated review of U.S. defense strategy in the Pacific last year concluded: “Actions by countries in the region routinely challenge the credibility of U.S. security commitments, and U.S. capability development is not keeping pace with challenges by potential competitors, resulting in the regional balance of military power shifting against the United States.”

Read the full op-ed in The National Interest.

  • Podcast
    • April 1, 2025
    Ep 187: Richard Fontaine on the “Reverse Kissinger”

    Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and co-author of No Limits? The China-Russia Relationship and U.S. Foreign Policy, joins the show to dis...

    By Richard Fontaine

  • Podcast
    • March 26, 2025
    A Stroll Through the Indo-Pacific, the Most Important Region in the World

    In this episode, we get into what’s driving the Indo-Pacific’s security dynamics, from China’s threats to Taiwan to AUKUS and the Quad to stability (or lack thereof) on the Ko...

    By Lisa Curtis

  • Reports
    • March 18, 2025
    Assessing China’s Nuclear Decision-Making

    China’s rapid nuclear buildup is raising questions about how the country makes decisions related to nuclear weapons. This policy brief analyzes that trend by presenting three ...

    By Jacob Stokes

  • Podcast
    • March 17, 2025
    ChinaTalk: Building Compute in America

    Despite leading the world in AI innovation, there’s no guarantee that America will rise to meet the challenge of AI infrastructure. Specifically, the key technological barrier...

    By Tim Fist & Jordan Schneider

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia