Rebalancing U.S. Forces: Basing and Forward Presence in the Asia-Pacific - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1612514650 ISBN 13: 9781612514659

Publisher: Naval Institute Press, 2014

Synopsis

As the U.S. military presence in the Middle East winds down, Asia and the Pacific are receiving increased attention from the American national security community. The Obama administration has announced a "rebalancing" of the U.S. military posture in the region, in reaction primarily to the startling improvement in Chinese air and naval capabilities over the last decade or so. This timely study sets out to assess the implications of this shift for the long-established U.S. military presence in Asia and the Pacific. This presence is anchored in a complex basing infrastructure that scholars--and Americans generally--too often take for granted. In remedying this state of affairs, this volume offers a detailed survey and analysis of this infrastructure, its history, the political complications it has frequently given rise to, and its recent and likely future evolution.

American seapower requires a robust constellation of bases to support global power projection. Given the rise of China and the emergence of the Asia-Pacific as the center of global economic growth and strategic contention, nowhere is American basing access more important than in this region. Yet manifold political and military challenges, stemming not least of which from rapidly-improving Chinese long-range precision strike capabilities, complicate the future of American access and security here. This book addresses what will be needed to maintain the fundaments of U.S. seapower and force projection in the Asia-Pacific, and where the key trend lines are headed in that regard.

This book demonstrates that U.S. Asia-Pacific basing and access is increasingly vital, yet increasingly vulnerable. It demands far more attention than the limited coverage it has received to date, and cannot be taken for granted. More must be done to preserve capabilities and access upon which American and allied security and prosperity depend.

About this title

From the Author:

The Asia-Pacific region, central to global economic and geopolitical development in the twenty-first century, is the logical focus of the Obama Administration's ongoing rebalancing of capabilities, relations, and presence thereto. This effort is inspired by profound challenges and opportunities emerging in the region. Aspects of China's rapid, broad-based development fall into both categories, with challenges including increasingly-potent anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) systems that threaten the viability of potential opponents' forces with long-range precision strike capabilities. Central to American presence and influence in the vital Asia-Pacific, but facing increasing vulnerabilities, is a complex network of bases and access points that has been too long neglected both by both scholars and the American public. This book addresses these timely and important issues, surveys present U.S. basing infrastructure, and examines key challenges and trends that Washington confronts as attempts to preserve its capabilities and influence in the Asia-Pacific.Chapters:1. "Introduction," Carnes Lord and Andrew S. Erickson2. "Guam and American Security in the Pacific," Andrew S. Erickson and Justin Mikolay3. "Japanese Bases and Chinese Missiles," Toshi Yoshihara4. "South Korea: An Alliance in Transition," Terence Roehrig5. "The U.S. Strategic Relationship with Australia," Jack McCaffrie and Chris Rahman6. "Singapore: Forward Operating Site," Chris Rahman7. "Diego Garcia and American Security in the Indian Ocean," Walter C. Ladwig III, Andrew S. Erickson, and Justin D. Mikolay8. "U.S. Bases and Domestic Politics in Central Asia," Alexander Cooley9. "The Role of Sea Basing," Sam J. Tangredi

About the Author:

Carnes Lord, currently Professor of Strategic Leadership at the Naval War College and director of the Naval War College Press, is a political scientist with broad interests in international and strategic studies, national security organization and management, and political philosophy. He has taught at the University of Virginia and the Fletcher School, and served in a variety of senior positions in the U.S. government. (For further details, see usnwc.edu/Academics/Faculty/Carnes-Lord.aspx).Andrew S. Erickson is an Associate Professor at the Naval War College and an Associate in Research at Harvard's Fairbank Center. In spring 2013, he deployed as a Regional Security Education Program scholar aboard the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group. Erickson runs the research websites andrewerickson.com and chinasignpost.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1612514650
• ISBN 13: 9781612514659
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240
• Editor: Erickson Andrew Sven, Lord Carnes