Power across the Pacific

Abstract

In the past 50 years, much has changed across the Pacific. The changes have been cultural, but also—and in my view more importantly—dynamic transformations in the power equations among the nations rimming the Pacific. The influence of the United States has significantly waned. China, long a dormant giant, has awakened and begun flexing its economic and military power, sort of a reversal of the myth of the China market. Japan survived its defeat in World War II and transformed itself into a strong economic Pacific power only to see that strength severely diminished by the recent Great Recession. Australia, which for many years after World War II looked to the United States and Europe for trading partners and military protection, now finds itself questioning its own role in its home ocean. Shall it stay Euro-U.S.-centric or carve its own path among its neighboring countries? Pacific islands are enjoying independence and economic growth resulting from the ease with which tourists and travelers can now crisscross the giant Pacific. All of these transformations have brought great changes in the power dynamics reaching across the ocean.