Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Much has been written in the past decades about United States’ alliances in Asia, but most have focused on Northeast Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan) and to certain extent Australia and New Zealand, while Southeast Asian has been overlooked despite its growing role in American interest in Asia, particularly in the context of China’s assertive hegemony in the South China Sea or recently across Asian nations in the Belt and Road Initiative. In addition, most analysis and studies of the alliances focus on only security without interaction with other dimensions such as political, social, cultural and particularly economic development.

The paper highlights the importance of U.S. alliances and partnerships in Southeast Asia which should focus on a more comprehensive security network, integrating political, economic and social dimension into conventional security to serve U.S. and their allies’ interests at present and in the future. After reviewing the U.S. Southeast Asian alliances and partnerships since World War II and analyzing challenges to them, the paper suggests a new approach – a multilateral, inter-sectoral, multi-layer strategy for the U.S. in Southeast Asia.

Key messages:

• Southeast Asia is crucial to the U.S. strategic interests.
• But it seems neglected: Southeast Asia is the weakest link in the U.S. alliance chain.
• American policy on Southeast Asia is ambivalent, reactive and inconsistent.
• There needs to be a more systematic and comprehensive approach to Southeast Asia.