East Asian foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration

U.S. President Barack Obama's East Asia Strategy (2009–2017), also known as the Pivot to Asia, represented a significant shift in the foreign policy of the United States since the 2010s. It shifted the country's focus away from the Middle Eastern and European sphere and allowed it to invest heavily and build relationships in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, especially countries which are in close proximity to the People's Republic of China (PRC) either economically, geographically or politically to counter its rise as a rival superpower.[1]

Additional focus was placed on the region with the Obama administration's 2012 "Pivot to East Asia" regional strategy,[2] whose key areas of actions are: "strengthening bilateral security alliances; deepening our working relationships with emerging powers, including with China; engaging with regional multilateral institutions; expanding trade and investment; forging a broad-based military presence; and advancing democracy and human rights."[3] A report by the Brookings Institution states that reactions to the strategy were mixed, as "different Asian states responded to American rebalancing in different ways."[2]

Since 2017, the United States has readjusted its policy toward China through FOIP, replacing the concept of the "Pivot to Asia" or "Asia-Pacific" with the "Indo-Pacific strategy".[4][5]

  1. ^ Goldberg, Jeffrey (10 March 2016). "The Obama Doctrine". The Atlantic. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b Bush III, Richard (31 January 2012). "The Response of China's Neighbors to the U.S. "Pivot" to Asia". Brookings Institution.
  3. ^ Clinton, Hillary Rodham (11 October 2011). "America's Pacific Century". U.S. Department of State through Foreign Policy Magazine.
  4. ^ Harding, Brian (2019). "The Trump Administration's Free and Open Indo-Pacific Approach". Southeast Asian Affairs: 61–68. ISSN 0377-5437.
  5. ^ "From Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific". Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) (in German). doi:10.18449/2020rp09/. Retrieved 5 February 2024.