American Security Strategy in Asia: Time for a Change
Abstract
Background The day was April 19, 1990. The setting was Room SD-106 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, the huge hearing room of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senators Nunn, Levin, Dixon, Wirth, Shelby, Warner, Thurmond, McCain and Gorton were all present to receive testimony and a report from Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Mr. Paul Wolfowitz, on the future of the U.S. military presence in Asia. The report presented by Mr. Wolfowitz, entitled " A Strategic Framework For the Asian Pacific Rim: Looking Toward the 21st Century", was vintage National War College core curriculum material. The report surveyed the historical strategic environment, analyzed the U.S. regional role and objectives, and offered a strategy for managing U.S. military resources in Asia in the 1990s and beyond. Despite revolutionary changes in both the global and regional security environment, Mr. Wolfowitz and his DOD associates proposed no fundamental changes in U.S. military strategy in Asia. The longstanding military strategy that incorporates forward-deployed forces and bilateral security arrangements will remain the two pillars of America's security strategy for Asia. This "steady as she goes" approach, to quote Capt. Marry Afford, translates into a substantially unchanged U.S. security strategy for Asia. The only changes in the extant strategy proposed by Mr. Wolfowitz -- gradual force drawdowns and streamlining of bases -- simply tinkers with the existing framework.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 11, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA437701
Entities
People
- Raymond J. Ahearn
Organizations
- National War College