Two basic principles guide the United States National Defense Strategy unveiled Jan. 5. The first is the rising significance of the Asia-Pacific region to U.S. national interests. The second is a new fiscal environment: Washington just does not have the resources to fund a defense wish list as it did in the past.
The challenge for U.S. defense planners, and their allies and partners, is ensuring that the two principles do not conflict and that U.S. national interests — and those of allies and partners — can be secured even in a time of growing budget constraints. The key challenge is making sure that potential adversaries do not misread U.S. intentions and capabilities and mistake reconfiguration for weakness.
U.S. President Barack Obama is laying out the parameters of U.S. international engagement at a time of transition. The new U.S. defense strategy, like the foreign policy revealed late last year that emphasizes the U.S. "pivot" toward Asia, is an attempt to articulate and frame U.S. policy after the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.