US Forces Contributing in Asia Without Losing Their Breath

It will be difficult to act independently as the “global police” while grasping at the massive budget deficit. The Obama administration signaled at this new reality with its announcement of a new defense strategy. In order to not exhaust American military participation in Asia, Japan will need to contribute even more.

In order to address the economic difficulties, President Obama is making drastic cuts in the defense budget. The new strategy cuts the budget and is a desperate measure in thinking about how to maintain necessary military strength.

According to the new strategy, the focus will be to reduce American ground forces. However, they cannot abandon the reality of preparing for a “two-front operation” in two different regions.

This is not exactly a new decision. It was made to be able to resist simultaneously on two fronts in case disputes arose on the Korean peninsula and in the Middle East.

However, this strategy has shown its limits since the previous Bush administration. In 2010, the Obama administration began to reconsider this policy. Taking into account America’s serious financial situation, the decision was inevitable.

The worry now is the decision’s impact on the growth center of the world — the Asia Pacific. In the Asia-Pacific region, America’s presence is a point of stability. If the American military contribution weakens, it can cause harm to the region’s stability.

The new strategy affirms the emphasis of deployment routes in the case of war in the Asia Pacific, taking into account a rising China’s possible threat to America’s security guarantee. We welcome the strengthening of their involvement in Asia.

However, no matter how much the Obama administration adheres to these decisions, the ability to carry out the decisions is another problem. For argument’s sake, if a situation arises where cutting additional funds for the U.S.’s defense budget is imminent, there is the possibility that they will not be able to treat the Asia-Pacific region as an exception.

Essential now to supporting the participation of the U.S. military in Asia is for U.S. allies like Japan, South Korea and Australia to actively contribute even more than they have.

Japan is also experiencing severe financial circumstances, but even so, there are many things that can be done. The archipelago off Southwestern Japan is an important area to the strategy for dealing with China. Strengthening these should be an important contribution to greater defense security in Asia. The Self-Defense Force possesses many Lockheed P-3 Orion patrol planes. Utilizing these should provide a way for them to assist in the surveillance of the surrounding seas.