Open Forum

With this issue we begin an addition to the Open Forum, reflecting on recent conferences and talks in Washington, DC and by high US officials on the themes covered in The Asan Forum. Our objective is not to report specifically on who said what, apart from speeches by top officials, but to give a sense of the tenor of remarks by those knowledgeable about US policies. There is no place comparable for understanding not only US views, but also how US leaders interpret what is being said by leaders in the region. Much analysis in China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea starts with assumptions about US policy; so this synopsis of views from Washington, DC serves as a balance to broaden the debate and to test assumptions against an essential yardstick. In this coverage, we raise questions of current interest and interpret the responses to them. It is, of course, normal for officials to avoid sensitive remarks on controversial themes. Interpretations below are sometimes extrapolations or inferences and should not all be taken as actual indications of the government’s positions. In a span of one month Chuck Hagel, Susan Rice, and Joe Biden all spoke at length on US policy in the Asia-Pacific region, and their remarks serve as markers in efforts to interpret remarks by lower-level officials and by knowledgeable specialists or former officials that fill-in additional details about government thinking. We proceed by identifying a series of questions recently being asked and following each with a summary of how they are being answered by those who articulate US policy or who are in a position to interpret it, as reinterpreted by some of those listening to their words.

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