Security in the Asia Pacific and the Struggle for World Power

The annual Asia Security Summit – dubbed the Shangri-La Dialogue – opened in Singapore on Friday. The conference brings together defense ministers and top security officials from around the world.

It has been reported that among issues to be discussed over the next three days is restoring peace in complex emergencies, a timely and relevant subject with recent calamities which struck Myanmar and China.

Myanmar‘s deputy defence minister is expected to participate  in the discussions. On Saturday, US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates will lead  the plenary session, which will focus on challenges to stability in Asia-Pacific. Singapore‘s Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean will chair a session on confidence building, partnerships and alliances on Sunday, the final day of the summit. The annual event is organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The Asia Pacific region is the geopolitical center of the struggle for world power. It produces 60 percent of the world’s manufactured and agricultural goods and is undoubtedly the lifeblood of the global economy. Maintaining peace in this region is extremely important for the rest of the world.

U.S., Japanese, Chinese, and Russian military agendas contend here. Insecurities in the region are compounded even  more by  the nuclear weapons programs of Japan, North and South Korea, and Indonesia, and  the high-tech arms race among the newly industrializing Asian “tigers”.

There are new drivers out there. Pursuit of economic advantage has largely replaced ideology as the driving force of foreign and military policies. In the Asia Pacific, this means intensified economic and interstate competition is fueling military tensions and insecurity. The regional (dis)order is defined by complex balance of power struggles focusing on the U.S., Japan, and China but also involving Russia and the region’s lesser powers.

The US trade with the Asia Pacific totals over USD374 billion and acoounts for 2.8 million U.S. jobs. There U.S. Asia pacific policy claims permanent interest in the “security of the Asia-Pacific region.” The U.S. has continued with  “essential” forward deployments of  thousands of  troops in the region, strengthened its alliance with Japan, maintained commitments to South Korea, and implemented  the “Agreed Framework” to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons infrastructure, and “engage” China.