Defense Offshoring Is America’s New China Containment Strategy
South Korea’s K-2 battle tank, developed by Hyundai Rotem Co. The US ally is becoming a defense-export powerhouse, with shipments more than doubling in 2022.
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/BloombergIn the board game Axis and Allies, a contest set during the height of World War II, one way of bolstering strategic military advantage is setting up industrial complexes closer to theaters of operation.
A similar strategy is underway now—in the real world. US allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region are becoming defense-production nodes for American strategic interest in the region, part of an increasingly global US-China geo-strategic standoff.