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As the U.S. military presence in the Middle East winds down, the Asia-Pacific is receiving increased attention from the American national security community. The Obama administration has announced a rebalancing of the U.S. military posture in the region in reaction primarily to the startling improvement in Chinese air and naval capabilities over the last decade or so.
Rebalancing U.S. Forces sets out to assess the implications of this shift for the long-established U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific. This presence is anchored in a complex basing infrastructure that is too often taken for granted. In remedying this state of affairs, this volume offers a detailed survey and analysis of the infrastructure, its history, the political complications it has frequently given rise to, and its recent and likely future evolution.
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Rebalancing U.S. Forces demonstrates that U.S. Asia-Pacific basing and access is increasingly vital, yet increasingly vulnerable. This important strategic component demands far more attention than the limited coverage it has received to date, and it cannot be taken for granted. More must be done to preserve capabilities and access upon which American and allied security and prosperity depend.
About the author
Carnes Lord, currently Professor of Strategic Leadership at the Naval War College and director of the Naval War College Press, is a political scientist with broad interests in international and strategic studies, national security organization and management, and political philosophy. He has taught at the University of Virginia and the Fletcher School and served in a variety of senior positions in the U.S. government. Andrew S. Erickson is an Associate Professor at the Naval War College and an Associate in Research at Harvard's Fairbank Center. In spring 2013, he deployed as a Regional Security Education Program scholar aboard the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group. Erickson runs the research websites www.andrewerickson.com and www.chinasignpost.com.
