By Thomas Donilon, Council on Foreign Relations Fellow
Text: http://www.cfr.org/china/keynote-address-obama-china-preserving-rebalance/p33778
Review by Francis P. Sempa, Contributing Editor
Thomas Donilon of the Council on Foreign Relations spoke recently at the Brookings Institution about the Obama Administration’s rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region. He called it “the most important geopolitical initiative of Obama’s presidency.
The region contains half the world’s people and nearly 60 percent of global GDP. Obama’s rebalance, he stated, involves each element of U.S. national power.
Donilon focused his remarks on three principal foundations for the rebalance: alliances (most notable our alliances with Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines), security presence (a shift of military assets to the region, especially naval and air assets), and economics (including the completion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership which he called the “economic centerpiece of the rebalance”).
He concluded his remarks by emphasizing the administration’s continued efforts to engage and cooperate with China, while noting but downplaying areas of competition and disagreement.