Bob Wells Associates

Bob Wells’ key points:

• Managing the peace in the China’s Seas amid several potential flashpoints must remain a top U.S. foreign policy priority for the foreseeable future because, as Henry Kissinger suggested in 2004, the center of gravity of world affairs is moving to the Pacific and all major actors on the international stage have interests there and roles to play.
• The U.S. and China will remain the principal actors and “stakeholders” on the new China Seas’ stage and both have seminal roles to play while other littoral- state actors and multilateral organizations, including ASEAN and its ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) component; have important supporting actor roles in the international drama.
• This drama involves national maritime claims, international fisheries management, corporate technological advances making deep water gas and oil exploration possible and the shadow of growing regional military capacity by countries intent on enforcing their maritime border claims and maintaining freedom of the seas.
• Resolving these flashpoint challenges is in the national interest of the U.S. and the use of a credible political, economic military and governance engagement strategy-in a resource-constrained environment-will be required in order to foster cooperation and reassure allies, the U.S. Congress and the American people.
• A critically important part of the U.S. strategic communication effort to the Asia-Pacific region is the annual Shangri-La Dialog hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore-the strategic crossroads of the Asia-Pacific region.
• The U.S. return to Shangri-La remains a seminally important venue to discuss defense policy and assist efforts to cause greater international understanding and conflict avoidance.