By Van Jackson
A small sum can make a big difference if it is spent wisely and quickly.
It’s not often that I praise Congress or any of its members. But the recent decision by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) to allocate $425 million to maritime security in Southeast Asia puts America’s money where its mouth is on commitments to regional stability and order. Whether this paltry sum (in Pentagon jargon, $425 million would be described as “budget dust”) can make a difference depends on how it’s spent, and how quickly.
Maritime Southeast Asia is ripe with friction among competing disputants, most of whom are incapable of defending their claims with military force—except, of course, for China. As I argued in testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in February, the region’s fragmented maritime domain allows China to engage in land reclamation and various forms of gray zone coercion largely unchallenged. After spending most of the Cold War focused primarily on internal security, ASEAN militaries are beginning to look outward, reorienting their focus on air and maritime capabilities. But no ASEAN state can mount a meaningful challenge to China alone, and there are currently stark limits on intra-ASEAN maritime cooperation.
Read the full story at The Diplomat