"The United States has found itself playing the role of international stabilizer and security guarantor. It is a burdensome, expensive, and often thankless activity—but a vital one in a world that perpetually teeters between civilized behavior and the law of the jungle. With finite resources and limited bandwidth, Washington is constantly required to determine which problem/ threat will get priority attention. The calendar now reads 2024 and two wars—localized, but intense and bloody, in Ukraine and Gaza—have forced themselves to the top of the immediate agenda. But, even as these conflicts consume the energies of senior officials across US security agencies, these same officials repeatedly affirm that America’s most enduring and important strategic challenges lie in the Indo-Pacific. If pressed, those same officials will focus in on the Western Pacific and, most particularly, the South China Sea and Southeast Asia."

Read more from Marvin Ott, a senior fellow with the Wilson Center.