March 13, 2009

United States and the Asia-Pacific Region: Security Strategy for the Obama Administration

By: Patrick M. Cronin

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) cordially invites you to a panel discussion with Ralph Cossa, Patrick Cronin, RADM Michael McDevitt, and Brad Roberts. The evening's discussion, led by former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly, will celebrate the launch of a new joint report, The United States and the Asia-Pacific Region: Security Strategy for the Obama Administration, which assesses U.S. strategic imperatives in the Asia-Pacific and provides several policy recommendations for the Obama administration. The discussion and subsequent reception will take place on Wednesday, March 11, 2009, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, in the Willard's Crystal Room.

In early 2008 the institutions that authored this report joined together to hold a series of workshops with leading strategic thinkers to evaluate U.S. policy toward the Asia-Pacific. Recognizing the geopolitical shifts toward Asia that have been underway for the past decade and the likelihood of growing regional tensions due to the global financial crisis, this report urges the Obama administration to move quickly to articulate a new strategy for the region. The primary aim of this report is to encourage U.S. leaders to reassert a U.S. vision for the region that offers clarity about American purposes in the Asia-Pacific and delineates a clear division of responsibility in advancing shared interests in stability, prosperity, and freedom.

Failure by the United States to adopt a more proactive and strategic approach to the Asia-Pacific would likely have far-reaching consequences over the next decade. In order to deal effectively with the challenges ahead, the U.S. must continue to build on the positive signal sent by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent visit to the region and demonstrate to America's allies, friends, and potential adversaries that Asia will not be an afterthought in U.S. policy

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