U.S. Security Policies in the Western Pacific

Abstract

The security environment, issues, and challenges facing the United States today in the Western Pacific are growing more complex. There is no direct single threat as there was during the Cold War in the form of Soviet-backed communism. The Cold War increasingly divided the region into two camps. However, there was a key, variable, shifting element in this situation: China, which turned against the Soviet Union, played off Moscow and Washington, and then shifted decisively into the U.S.-led coalition in the 1980s. China remains a key variable in today's security environment, but there are other elements in Western Pacific security that have joined it: North Korea as an emerging nuclear weapons state, Japan's enlarging security role, Islamic terrorism in Southeast Asia, and volatile political attitudes toward the United States in countries once thought to be reliable allies.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA441176

Entities

People

  • Larry Niksch

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Counter WMD
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Antisubmarine Aircraft
  • Congress
  • Governments
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Political Systems
  • Procurement
  • Security
  • South Asia
  • South Korea
  • Southeast Asia
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Strategic Security Studies