Peace Through Strength in the Indo-Pacific

The United States’ long-term security, prosperity, and liberties will be decisively shaped by developments in the Indo-Pacific, said Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby in remarks at the Sejong Institute in South Korea.

“A satisfactory stability in Asia . . . .will be preserved by power intelligently and rightly applied and specifically by a durable favorable balance of power that, as the National Security Strategy lays out, prevents domination of this crucial region by any single state,” said Under Secretary Colby.

President Donald Trump's long-standing emphasis has been on peace through strength. “This is not about needless confrontation. This is not about forever wars. It is instead about the protection of American and allied interests through a stability rooted in credible deterrence and strategic balance,” said Under Secretary Colby.

President Trump has been clear that the U.S. should strive for a stable, peaceful relationship with China that protects the interests of the United States and its allies. The United States does not seek to dominate China nor to strangle or humiliate it. What we seek, said Under Secretary Colby is “a favorable balance of power in which no state can impose its hegemony. This stability will allow us to trade with each other and for our nations to prosper, agreeing where we can and differing where we must.”

At the same time, the U.S. must be clear-eyed about China's ongoing military modernization and buildup. U.S. defense strategy in the Indo-Pacific centers on deterrence along the first island chain, which includes the Japanese home islands through the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, and the Philippine archipelago. “[W]e are focused on building a military posture in the Western Pacific that ensures that aggression along the first island chain is infeasible, that escalation unattractive, and war is indeed irrational,” said Under Secretary Colby.

As President Trump has noted, for too long the security of key regions rested disproportionately on the United States. “That imbalance is neither fair nor sustainable,” noted Under Secretary Colby. Moreover, President Trump has consistently argued that alliances are strongest when they are based on shared responsibility rather than permanent dependency.

With regard to South Korea, “it has invested consistently in its own defense because it understands geography, threat, and the centrality of concrete military power,” said Under Secretary Colby. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s decision to increase defense spending to 3.5 percent and to assume greater responsibility for South Korea's conventional defense reflects an understanding of how to put this historic alliance on sound footing for the long haul.

The goal of American defense policy in Asia, said Under Secretary Colby, is “defined by a favorable balance not hegemony, in which sovereignty is respected, and in which peace is sustained, not by comforting illusions, but by clarity, strength, and resolve.”

And this ultimately is the foundation of a durable peace in the Indo-Pacific that will benefit not only Americans but also people throughout the region.