Reaffirming U.S. commitment to Asia

By Ralph A. Cossa

KUALA LUMPUR (JP): The recently completed U.S Defense Department's Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) has once again confirmed the importance of the presence of U.S. forces in Asia to America's global security strategy.

That strategy, as outlined in the QDR, has three main elements: to shape the international environment by promoting stability, preventing conflict, and deterring aggression; to respond quickly to a full spectrum of crises; and to prepare to meet the security challenges of an unpredictable future.

According to U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen, the continued deployment of around 100,000 U.S. forces in Asia is critical to achieving all three tasks.

Cohen recently provided an overview of the QDR at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington to members of an international working group on confidence and security building measures (CSBM) organized by the multinational, non-governmental Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP).

Cohen assured the working group participants from 16 Asia- Pacific nations that the Pentagon's focused modernization effort to meet tomorrow's challenges would not be undertaken at the expense of continued American engagement in Asia today and in the future. The U.S. benefits from this presence, he said, as do all nations in the region.

Acknowledging the presence of CSCAP representatives from North Korea, Cohen said the U.S. military sees itself as a force for peace and stability on the Peninsula, even though it remains prepared to deal with undesirable contingencies if the current momentum toward peaceful dialog is not sustained.

Cohen, in response to a question about the QDR's impact on Asia, said the modest additional force cuts proposed in the QDR (from 1.42 million to 1.36 million active duty military personnel) would have little impact on the forces deployed to Asia or on America's ability to respond to crises in Asia or elsewhere.

While the bulk of U.S. forces in Asia are concentrated in Northeast Asia, Cohen noted the importance of Southeast Asia today and in the future. He highly praised the positive, productive, and steadily improving military relations the U.S. enjoys with Singapore, Malaysia, and other countries in the region.

As a U.S. Senator, Cohen is among the best informed of his colleagues on Southeast Asia and has frequently visited the region. He has clearly carried that appreciation of Southeast Asia with him to the Pentagon.

This is not expected to be translated into a U.S. quest for new bases in Southeast Asia; the current strategy of "places not bases" -- i.e., of enhanced access, greater cooperation, and periodic deployments and visits versus more fixed facilities -- is likely to be sustained.

But ASEAN nations should receive greater recognition and appreciation for their collective role as a stabilizing political as well as an economic force, and greater defense cooperation between the U.S. and individual ASEAN states should enjoy a higher priority during Cohen's tenure as Secretary of Defense.

Secretary Cohen also stressed the continued importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship as the foundation of the U.S. presence in Asia and pledged to continue to build upon this vital relationship.

Noting the presence of Chinese military officers participating in the CSCAP meeting, he said China had also benefited from the stability provided by the U.S.-Japan alliance and the presence of U.S. forces in Japan and elsewhere. (As a so-called "track two" non-governmental organization, CSCAP encourages the participation of government -- including active duty military -- officials in its meetings, "in their private capacities".)

Cohen's decision to discuss confidence building measures in presenting his views on the QDR to an international audience at the CSCAP meeting is also significant. In addition to underscoring his personal interest in Asia, it also signals a continued defense department commitment to both official and non- governmental multilateral security dialog, as a useful complement to America's bilateral defense arrangements.

This commitment was further reinforced by the Pentagon's top Asia policy maker, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia, Dr. Kurt Campbell, during his keynote address to the CSCAP General Membership Meeting in Singapore on June 4. Campbell highlighted improved relations with Southeast Asia, and increased involvement in support for multilateral security dialog initiatives as two primary defense department objectives.

Concerns had been expressed in many quarters in Asia that the QDR would result in a weakened U.S. commitment and reduce the presence of U.S. forces in Asia. Instead, the QDR in general and Secretary Cohen in particular have reemphasized the growing importance of the Asia-Pacific region to the U.S. and the U.S. intention to remain fully engaged in Asia today, even as it refocuses its efforts to better prepare for the challenges of the 21st Century.

The writer is Executive Director of the Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu-based, nonprofit research institute affiliated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. He co-chairs the CSCAP CSBM Working Group. The Pacific Forum is a founding member.