How the United States can strengthen its position in the Indo-Pacific

‘America is back’, Joe Biden proclaimed in his first address as president to a global audience. Over the year that followed, the Biden administration delivered a mixed bag in its approach to the Indo-Pacific — several bold strategic strokes, greater than expected continuity with the Trump administration on China policy and timidity on trade policy.

The Biden administration largely delivered on its commitment to prioritise the Indo-Pacific region. With its withdrawal from Afghanistan and gradual de-emphasis on developments in the Middle East, its rebalancing of focus to the region is real.

The United States made important progress in tightening coordination with allies and partners. The elevation to the leader’s level of the Quad was significant, both symbolically and in terms of galvanising collective action. Similarly, the AUKUS agreement was a major move to align three of the world’s most capable militaries on sustaining peace in the Pacific. Even though it generated less attention, the restoration of functional US–Japan–South Korea military mechanisms was also important.

At the same time, the Biden administration got off to a slow start in its engagement in Southeast Asia. The sidelining of much of Asia in the Summit for Democracy was a setback. The administration’s lack of articulation of an Indo-Pacific strategy or an integrated China strategy was also dissonant with its declared prioritisation of the region.

The administration’s top priority of 2021 was domestic renewal. Biden made progress in boosting the domestic economy, generating employment and investing in infrastructure. Early gains in controlling COVID-19were tempered by its resurgence in the second half of the year. Biden also notched important wins by attracting leading global companies to launch significant manufacturing buildouts in the United States. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Intel are investing significantly in semiconductor fabrication plants in the United States and others will likely follow suit in 2022.

US power grew more than any other country in the region, according to the Lowy Institute’s 2021 Asia Power Index.

Looking ahead, the United States still has unrealised gains to capture in the region. One of these is diplomatic presence. During its first year in office, the Biden administration struggled to get ambassadors in place and to coordinate senior-level visits to the region. This problem will likely resolve itself in the coming months as more ambassadors arrive in embassies and the tempo of senior-level engagement in the region ramps up.

A larger challenge for the Biden administration will be its absence of an economic agenda. They have announced plans to release an Indo-Pacific economic framework in 2022. Given that the framework reportedly will be non-binding and will not include trade or investment liberalisation, it may not get a lot of uptake, particularly when the region’s focus is on realising benefits from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and expanding the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.