Urliapov Vyacheslav

The new trends in the United States strategy towards South-East Asia

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2011, №17, 19-31

 
Annotation: Dr. V.F. Urlyapov evaluates the new trends in the United States strategy towards South-East Asia. The administration of President Barack Obama wasted little time in notifying the region that the United States was back in Southeast Asia, pursuing active engagement. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton committed to attending regularly the annual ministerial meetings of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). The United States joined ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation as the step to improve U.S. relations with South-East Asian countries and offered possible U.S. participation in the Asian Leadership Summit conveyed by the ASEAN-anchored East Asian Summit forum. The Obama administration has taken some major steps to demonstrate its commitment to re-engage with the region including conducting two US-ASEAN summits one of them being the first ever on US soil in September 2010. The main challenge in US relations with South-East Asia has always been calibrating relations among ASEAN in the context of wider regional and global policies and bilateral relations with other countries. The initiatives to expand bilateral ties with several countries, hasn't been taken in a vacuum. With the exception of Cambodia, the US has not broken diplomatic ties with the countries of ASEAN Northern Belt. US relations with ASEAN had clearly been moved to a separate track where they could develop without damage under the burden of Myanmar's recalcitrance. Similarly, the first National Security Strategy issued by the Obama administration specially cited Indonesia as an increasingly influential country with which the US would seek and build more effective partnership.

Keywords: US STRATEGY, US FOREIGN POLICY, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, ASEAN, SOUTH-EAST ASIA