America’s global defence predicament-Why the Asia ‘rebalancing’ has little significance for European security

The Royal Institute for International Relations is an independent think-tank based in Brussels. Its interdisciplinary research is conducted in a spirit of total academic freedom. Drawing on the expertise of its own research fellows, as well as that of external specialists, both Belgian and foreign, it provides analysis and policy options that are meant to be as operational as possible.This paper argued that the Obama Administration’s Asia ‘pivot’ or ‘rebalancing’ was mainly a rhetorical construct that had very little substantive effect on US security policy. In contrast to the widely held belief that a renewed emphasis on Asia would have placed meaningful restrictions on America’s willingness and ability to deal with European security problems there was little evidence to support this argument nor was it well-grounded conceptually. Furthermore, undue emphasis on this aspect of American policy detracted attention from more important developments in Washington’s capacity to effectively project military power.

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https://publications.europa.eu/s/dgRs https://publications.europa.eu/s/dgRs

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