Is American Strategy in Asia Working?

After a decade of Xi Jinping’s aggressive foreign policy, Washington policymakers and US allies in the region are more unified than ever around the goal of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific. The US-Japan-India-Australia Quad enjoys bipartisan support in all four countries; public support for the US-ROK and US-Japan alliances stands at record heights; Australia has entered an unprecedented defense technology alliance with the US and Britain in AUKUS; Japan and Korea are back on track, and Manila is deepening defense cooperation with Washington and Tokyo. Yet Beijing is not really changing course. Does that matter? Does Xi see weaknesses Washington is missing? Is there a soft underbelly to US strategy in Southeast Asia? Is the lack of a robust US trade strategy undermining progress on the security front? Is the 2024 election undermining US credibility? Michael Green assessed the current American position in Asia from historical and policy perspectives to answer the question: is American strategy working?