The role of U.S. naval power in the Asia-pacific region: From regional protector to regional balancer

For more than four decades, U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific was centered on two premises: a Cold War commitment to Asian security and the remarkable economic power of the U.S. The U.S. Navy provided a symbol of the United States' commitment to protect its interests and those of its major Asian-pacific allies. Despite the end of the Cold War, the security environment of the Asia-Pacific region is still less changed and even a new threat of a regional naval arms race emerged in the 1990s. In this context, although forward deployments of U.S. military power in the Western Pacific have been scaled down, it is certain that the U.S. naval force will continue to play an important role as a key “regional balancer.” Amid the collapse of the Soviet Union and in the post-Cold War era, the U.S. has still emphasized the maintenance of a U.S. forward-deployed presence and strong defense alliances with U.S. allies in order to prevent the emergence of regional hegemonic powers and to contribute to regional stability as well as improve U.S. economic interests. Moreover, in the face of a multitude of threats from state and non-state actors, the U.S. Navy is increasingly focused on and driven by the demands of peacetime and crisis forward presence.