Biden Administration will Push Obama's "Pivot to Asia' Strategy

 

The appointment of old Asia hand Kurt Michael Campbell to the new position of “Indo-Pacific coordinator" at the National Security Council (NSC) by president-elect Joe Biden sends a strong signal to Asian allies the new administration will take a hard line against China.

Campbell, who formerly served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under the Obama administration, was one of the architects of Obama's "Pivot to Asia," or East Asia Strategy. This strategy called for strengthening bilateral security alliances; deepening America's working relationships with emerging powers (including China) and advancing democracy and human rights, among others.

As Indo-Pacific coordinator, Campbell will have broad management over NSC directorates responsible for China-related issues and parts of Asia. He's expected to adapt the Pivot to Asia strategy to deal with the new strategic situation created by president Donald Trump's confrontational strategic competition against China.

Campbell will report directly to incoming national security adviser Jake Sullivan, a close friend whom he worked with at the Department of State during the Clinton administration, said The Washington Post.

Campbell and Sullivan made their thoughts known about how to deal with China in late 2019 in a joint essay for the magazine, Foreign Affairs, with the title, “Competition Without Catastrophe: How America Can Both Challenge and Coexist With China.”

They dismissed the failed strategy that sought to engage China in hopes China will liberalize. Instead, they argue competition against China must revolve around the goal of coexisting with China rather than expecting to change it.

Kurt Campbell

In their definition, however, coexistence isn't passive acquiescence to the status quo. Rather, their concept of coexistence means accepting coexistence as a challenge that can be shaped to foster U.S. national interests.

“Although coexistence offers the best chance to protect U.S. interests and prevent inevitable tension from turning into outright confrontation, it does not mean the end of competition or surrender on issues of fundamental importance,” they wrote. “Instead, coexistence means accepting competition as a condition to be managed rather than a problem to be solved.”

Campbell expounded on his philosophy in a new essay in Foreign Affairs published only last Tuesday. Along with co-author Rush Doshi, director of the Brookings Institution's China Strategy Initiative, Campbell focused on how the U.S. can “shore up” the international order in Asia by restoring a balance of power with China, bolstering alliances and then using those alliances to push back on Beijing’s aggressive actions.

These solutions harken back to the tenets of Obama's Pivot to Asia. Campbell wants to strengthen and expand alliances in the Indo-Pacific to better contain China.

A network of overlapping coalitions allows the U.S. to join with like-minded partners to “send a message (to China) that there are risks to China’s present course."

“This task will be among the most challenging in the recent history of American statecraft," wrote Campbell and Doshi. (Jan. 13, 2021)