U.S. Bets Old Ideas in a New Package Can Deter China
A fresh doctrine — “pluralism” — aims to help allies and friends balance Beijing in the Indo-Pacific.
Looking for a fight?
Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Through nearly three years in office, the Donald Trump administration has made a lot of noise about competing with China geopolitically but has often struggled to lay out, coherently, what America seeks to achieve. So it is encouraging that the State Department is beginning to articulate a sharper idea of what the U.S. is against in the Indo-Pacific – and, more importantly, what it is for.
The guiding concept: “Pluralism.” That may not sound very sexy, but it captures the essential difference in U.S. and Chinese visions for the region. And, significantly, it taps into three of the richest historical traditions of American grand strategy.