How to keep the peace in the Indo-Pacific

Still, there is a limit to the appeal of public goods There is a real difference between “new friends” and making hard choices that risk doing real damage to national security. Countries will take what they’re offered but are likely to remain on the fence in a conflict. Some observers believe that’s impossible, insisting that largesse is a slippery slope, a wedge that leads inexorably to domination.

This, argues Elbridge Colby, a former U.S. defense official, and analyst Robert Kaplan, creates the opportunity to forge “an anti-hegemony coalition,” since many countries “regardless of their domestic political arrangements, share an interest in preserving their autonomy from domineering Chinese influence. Led by the United States, these states can together form a coalition to block China’s attempt to gain hegemony over Asia.”

The Japan Times