Biden Looks East

“The single biggest strategic challenge that we face from the geopolitical perspective is the rise of China and the challenge that China poses to the rules-based international order,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told me this month. “That is a challenge that manifests in the Indo-Pacific, but also the challenge that manifests globally.”

Successive U.S. administrations over the past half century have faced similar challenges, based on the growing, virtually unavoidable recognition that America’s future lies with the nations of Asia and their expanding wealth, diplomatic clout, and technological prowess. Yet when presidents and policy makers have tried to focus on the region, some crisis erupts elsewhere in the world—in the early 2000s, the War on Terror; today, the war in Ukraine—and diverts their attention and resources. As a result, Washington’s efforts have fallen short of what Asia deserves.

According to President Joe Biden’s most senior foreign-policy aides, this administration is finally intent on setting that record straight. Somewhat under the radar, as the coronavirus pandemic’s long tail, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and inflation have dominated headlines, Biden has undertaken a series of initiatives to strengthen the U.S.’s position in the Indo-Pacific, the great, populous swath of territory spanning South Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific. And he won’t get distracted this time. Really, his aides insist.

“The Biden administration and