Rebalancing U.S. Forces ─ Basing and Forward Presence in the Asia-Pacific

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.

American sea power requires a robust constellation of bases to support global power projection. Given the rise of China and the emergence of the Asia-Pacific as the center of global economic growth and strategic contention, nowhere is American basing access more important than in this region. Yet manifold political and military challenges, including rapidly improving Chinese long-range precision-strike capabilities, complicate the future of American access and security in the region. This book addresses what will be needed to maintain the fundamentals of U.S. sea power and force projection in the Asia-Pacific, and where the key trend lines are headed in that regard.

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.