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Regional Strength Through Friendship in COBRA GOLD 2007 India-Japan-U.S. Forces Train at Sea in MALABAR/TRILATEX 2007 Enhancing the Australia-U.S. Military Alliance in TALISMAN SABER 2007 Perspectives :: PACOM: Moving the Throttle Forward in the Pacific Humanitarian Indonesian and U.S. Armies Promote Regional Stability in GARUDA SHIELD 2007 Special Interest :: Bridging Borders Through Military Medicine Happenings :: |
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2 Leading the way toward creating this opportunity and enhancing regional stability is our Theater Security Cooperation program. The goal is to work with the interagency community, allies, and partners to strengthen relationships, build capacity, and set the conditions for regional security and prosperity. For those nations in the area of responsibility with which we do not historically have close relationships, we will encourage healthy engagement. Recent applications of this approach include the deployment of the USNS Mercy in 2006 and USPACOM support during the 2004 tsunami that devastated coastlines across the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and portions of India). U.S. leadership and demonstrated compassion for the victims helped foster better relations, especially with Indonesia. Although our approach is not limited to humanitarian assistance or disaster relief missions, this experience will continue to be a model as USPACOM develops region-wide multinational operational ties. We will continue to expand our engagement in areas such as the Multinational Planning Augmentation Team Program, exercises, and other educational venues.1 Moving forward to confront challenges posed by terrorists and nonstate actors who are intent on threatening security in the Asia-Pacific region will remain at the top of our priorities. We place a premium on working by, with, and through our allies and partners to strengthen their capacity to create secure and stable environments. USPACOM employs both near- and long-term approaches to prevent terrorist exploitation of at-risk environments. In the near term, our objective is to stop the violence. In the long term, we seek to reinforce the region’s democratic, economic, social, and security institutions through the “indirect approach.” Using these principles, USPACOM has trained and assisted the Armed Forces of the Philippines in their successful efforts to counter terrorist activity and improve conditions in the Southern Philippines. We will build on this positive outcome and expand the use of these winning concepts elsewhere in the area of responsibility.2 China’s rise will be important to USPACOM. While we must maintain our military capabilities to preserve regional security, interaction with China must also focus on what we can do to influence China’s development as a responsible global stakeholder. Through continued dialogue and military-to-military initiatives, such as our mid-level officer exchanges, we improve understanding and reduce the potential for miscalculation during contingencies or emergencies. Our future efforts will emphasize opportunities for cooperation with China rather than areas of competition. The security conditions on the Korean Peninsula represent another area where USPACOM must keep its focus. North Korea remains an enigma with unknown intentions, particularly with its nuclear and missile programs. The Six-Party Talks have been helpful in getting the issues on the table and providing a venue for discussions with the regional stakeholders. Further, the talks may form a foundation for future dialogue discussing reunification – an outcome that may be in our interest if carried out constructively. Independent of diplomatic results, however, the growing capability of Republic of Korea ground forces allows us to continue to transfer the lead for the defense of the Republic of Korea to our allies. The United States will continue to reduce its military footprint on the peninsula, freeing up forces for availability elsewhere. Our relationship and alliances with both Australia and Japan will remain cornerstones of stability and security. As regional events shape the changing world, it is likely our mutual arrangements will continue to mature as well. Australia will surely maintain its leading role in Oceania while Japan will expand its defense capabilities and build closer ties with the United States – its only military partner. Both have been stalwart partners in the war on terror around the globe; their partnership will remain vital to our mutual efforts. Our partners Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have been helpful by improving maritime security in the critical Strait of Malacca. We will continue to encourage such combined approaches and regional multinational programs. Relationships with both India and Indonesia have expanded over the last several years and have potential to grow even stronger. This is significant. India is the world’s largest democracy and Indonesia is a thriving democracy with the world’s largest Muslim population. We have made great strides toward positive military-to-military relations with these nations. Challenges such as natural and man-made disasters will occur around the region and may require U.S. military support. These inevitabilities, along with the potential for military confrontation, will require USPACOM to remain ready, forward and vigilant into the future. The Way Ahead Our healthy alliances, positive economic trends, and potential for regional cooperation make it clear that opportunity is abundant in the Pacific. We are confident that, working together, we can achieve peace, stability, and prosperity. We will continue the long legacy of fostering lasting friendships and strive to build and strengthen new partnerships as well. We will pursue robust and frequent engagements throughout the region. Our aim is to create the conditions for security and prosperity across the entire region, leading to peace and political liberalization. This requires forward-based U.S. forces that will prevail in any conflict as well as operate and cooperate with regional allies, partners and friends. Thucydides said, “The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” The future, though unsure, is nonetheless optimistic and the men and women of U.S. Pacific Command will go out to meet it.
NOTES 2 For more on the War on Terror in the Pacific and Special Operations Command Pacific (SOCPAC) role, see Fridovich, David and Krawchuk, Fred, “Winning in the Pacific: The Special Operations Forces Indirect Approach,” Joint Forces Quarterly, Q1 2007, Issue 44, pp 24-27.
E-mail: apdforum@apan-info.net
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