“All the Indo-Pacific Men†: The System of US Political and Military Pacts in the Indian Ocean and Asia Pacific

The article aims at summarising the brief history and the current status of development of multilateral military, political and economic initiatives of the USA in the Indian and the Pacific oceans which target at containing the expansion of China and its growing economic and military power. An attempt is made to analyse these initiatives and alliances as a system, even though they may seem controversive at times, strategically heterogeneous and chaotic. The paper also attempts to evaluate the opportunities for the USA and their allies in the region to further strengthen these initiatives in the context of a sharp rise of tensions between the US and China in 2022 around the problem of Taiwan. This political clash instigated by Washington in the summer of 2022 is often regarded as a potential threat of a military conflict, so it is important to estimate to which extent the US-formed mechanisms of political and defense cooperation in the region have a potential for the solution of purposes of the USA in case of a “hot†stage of the Taiwan crisis.