November 15, 2017
The 5 things we learned from Trump’s Asia trip
President Trump returned Tuesday night after 12 days in Asia. So what did we learn from his stops in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines? Here are five takeaways:
1) Trump embraced alliances (sort of) but didn’t really reassure anyone
A typical goal of presidential trips is to tend to alliance relations — to maintain and renew ties, provide reassurance where needed or smooth over problems. Given Trump’s long-standing skepticism of alliances, there were significant questions about whether he would reassure anxious allies in Japan and South Korea.
The Japan leg of the trip went reasonably smoothly. Given the close bond Trump has formed with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, that’s perhaps unsurprising.
A smooth visit was not a given in South Korea, where relations have been frosty. Since taking office, Trump has called on South Korea to pay for the THAAD missile defense system and has threatened to end the U.S.-ROK free trade deal.
And Trump’s repeated threats to use unilateral force against North Korea are damaging to the U.S.-Korean alliance, forcing the progressive new president, Moon Jae-in, to distance himself from the United States. South Korean public opinion of the U.S. president is at a nadir.
Read the full commentary in the Washington Post.
More from CNAS
-
Video
Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
Trump Unfriends Modi's India: Trump Frothing, India CalmFrom tariffs to tantrums-Trump's latest anti-India tirade stirs global concern. As Washington watches in disbelief, Shiv Aroor discusses what this "break-up" means for India-U...
By Daniel Silverberg
-
Commentary
Indo-Pacific Security / Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
A Project for a New World OrderIndeed, the gathering in Beijing suggests that the axis, rather than withering following the war in Iran in June, has momentum....
By Richard Fontaine & Andrea Kendall-Taylor
-
Video
Indo-Pacific Security / Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
Xi, Putin, Kim Project United Front in ChinaRichard Fontaine, chief executive officer at the Center for a New American Security, joins BBC to discuss the Axis of Upheaval and the level of concern from the Trump administ...
By Richard Fontaine
-
How the U.S. Should Push the Quad-Plus to Protect Undersea Cables
Commentary
Subsea sabotage marks a new era in gray zone warfare, and the United States and its partners have a narrow window to expose and confront this threat before it becomes the new ...
By Ryan Claffey
