Can the US still project power?

 

(Al Jazeera)

As one can see from the above map, the US has military bases through out the world, ensuring our ability to wage warfare far from our shores. Other Nation-States should be deterred from too much unwarranted military aggression against the US as we alone have the ability to project power worldwide. 

Afghanistan shows the limits of power projection as while we were able to quickly deploy troops to the region the US was unable to permanently destroy the Taliban, resulting in the Taliban eventually gaining control of the country. Is the inability of the US to successfully export its liberal values a sign that the current K-wave has already crested and rapidly falling, I would argue that our power projection on a world stage is due to our continued status as the financial center of the world. If the US Dollar were to ever be replaced as the reserve currency, I would be more worried, but I feel the US will remain the global hegemon, until my small child is old enough to vote. 

My selected country is the Philippines where the US currently is adding four more bases to the existing five where US troops are stationed (Vergun 2023). Many of the new sites are near the Luzon Strait and many believe that these new bases will be used to send a signal to China that the US intends to maintain the current world order in the South China Sea.  

The new bases are part of our projection of naval power to the First Island Chain, from northern Japan all the way to the southern Philippines. The distance between these islands is short enough that if a invasion against a US allay occurred the US could attempt to deny China access to the Pacific Ocean by blockading at the First Chain (below). China has tried to make diplomatic inroads with the Philippines, but it appears the Philippines are still facing west. 

If China were truly on the upswing of a new K- wave, I would expect that their diplomatic entreaties would work better than they seem to have worked in the Philippines. Instead, the US is re-exerting its control over the region. 


 

(By DoD - Image:China Report 2006.pdf, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=812176)


Gourlay, L. (2023, February 23). USA moves to contain China with more military bases in the Philippines. Geographical. https://geographical.co.uk/geopolitics/bad-news-for-china-as-the-philippines-agrees-to-more-us-military-bases


Vergun, D. (April 3, 2023). New EDCA sites named in the Philippines. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3350297/new-edca-sites-named-in-the-philippines/

Garamone, J. (April 1, 2023). Austin visit to Philippine base highlights benefits of U.s-Philippine alliance. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3284587/austin-visit-to-philippine-base-highlights-benefits-of-us-philippine-alliance/



 

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