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| Image: Flickr User - Greg Bishop |
By Prashanth Parameswaran
Abraham Denmark warns against doubting America’s commitment to the region.
Underestimating the United States commitment in Asia would be a “severe miscalculation,” one of America’s top defense official for Asia warned Tuesday in a speech in Washington, D.C.
“U.S. commitment to Asia should not be underestimated, and to do so would be a severe miscalculation,” Abraham Denmark, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, told an audience at The Heritage Foundation, a D.C.-based think tank.
As part of its rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, Denmark said the Obama administration has been solidifying alliances, deepening key partnerships, strengthening institutions and promoting strong trade and investment links in the region over the past years. Recent initiatives, from the inking of a new U.S.-ASEAN strategic partnership to the unveiling of the new Maritime Security Initiative, were proof of America’s commitment to the region (See: “US, ASEAN to Ink New Strategic Partnership”).
The Pentagon, he said, would continue this by undertaking what defense officials have called the “next phase of the rebalance.” As I reported previously, U.S. defense secretary Ash Carter had said that this would entail investing in new defense technologies; fielding key US capabilities in the region; adapting US bases, personnel and platforms, and reinforcing existing alliances, emerging partnerships and the links between them (See: “TPP as Important as Another Aircraft Carrier: US Defense Secretary”).
Read the full story at The Diplomat