Markets and the Military

Barack Obama has launched a regular Asian offensive. Following the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the president made his debut at the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Security Conference, primarily because the future of global politics will neither be determined in Afghanistan or Iraq, but in East Asia, according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a recent article she wrote for Foreign Policy magazine.

Washington both fears and demonizes Chinese dominance in the region, and in the words of one leading Indonesian politician, wants to have increased influence in “the epicenter of global economic growth.”* Asia is an indispensable market for what is still the most powerful global economy. In remarks delivered at a press conference in Canberra, Australia, Obama said that the United States was there to stay. He left no doubt that the markets and military strategy were two sides of the same coin for his administration. There are already over 100,000 combat ready troops in the region, not counting those in Afghanistan. On just the Japanese island of Okinawa, there is the Pentagon’s unsinkable aircraft carrier and 15,000 marine infantry troops. Now Obama has announced an expansion of the American military presence in Australia, for example, where, after signing a bilateral agreement, the number of U.S. troops will grow to 2,500. It’s as if the ghosts of the Cold War have been conjured up from their graves.