Open Forum

At a multinational defense forum with ASEAN nations’ defense ministers in late September, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter repeated his call for like-minded nations to “catalyze the Asia-Pacific’s principled and inclusive security network” to ensure regional peace, prosperity, and stability. At the meeting, the defense ministers reaffirmed their shared commitment to strengthening cooperation in maritime security and “to keeping the region’s waterways open and secure.”1 The increasing prominence of maritime security as a shared concern is a significant recent trend in Asia-Pacific security affairs. In particular, the increasingly volatile South and East China seas have emerged as major flashpoints affecting not only territorial claimants but all those with a stake in the region’s peace and prosperity. As reflected in Carter’s speech, one noteworthy policy response is what appears to be incremental multilateralization of the sixty-plus year-old “hub-and-spokes” architecture of bilateral alliances centered on the United States. Indeed, especially since 2010, the United States and key security treaty allies have moved to strengthen diplomatic and military ties bilaterally and multilaterally. Together with their deepening cooperation with other regional nations and an increasingly engaged India, these nascent developments constitute a significant trend line likely to shape the region’s international politics, and an important space to be watched.

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