Pivot Towards Asia And The Pacific

The U.S. grand strategy has undergone significant changes since Barack Obamatook office, and the most important adjustment is perhaps the shift of its strategicfocus to the Asia-Pacific region. As Obama made explicitly clear, the U.S. is all in andis here to stay.This paper makes a careful study of the grand strategic shift in the U.S. foreignpolicy towards the Asia-Pacific region on political, economic, security and soft powerfront. Efforts are made here to identify the reasons for the strategic adjustment and thedifficulties and uncertainties facing the U.S. in the21stcentury. Through a closeexamination, the author finds that (1) with the changing realities in internationalrelations and economy, the U.S. is pivoting and will continue to pivot towards theAsia-Pacific region by increasing its strategic investment in an all-round manner;(2)by the strategic adjustment, the U.S. wants to gain economically, militarily andpolitically and to sustain and strengthen its leadership in this region and in the worldat large so as to balance against a rising China;(3) the U.S. is faced with manychallenges and uncertainties. It has now limited resources due to its relativelydeclining strength, is still tied down by other regional problems, and may encountersuspicions and resistance from states and state blocs in this region and;(4) thestrategic pivoting of the U.S. will bring about opportunities as well as challenges, andwill exert significant influence on international relations and power structure in thisregion.