Sweeping changes shape a new Pacific Asia

Abstract

The fast-growing countries of Asia bordering the Pacific are undergoing a series of major, simultaneous transitions. The region's economies are growing explosively, almost beyond the control of national governments and perhaps even beyond what its resources and environment can sustain. Its populations are both growing and aging, putting tremendous pressure on infrastructures and social structures. Its political systems face rising pressures for broader participation from increasingly well-off citizens. The region's security order is suspended between a Cold War framework that no longer applies and new approaches that cannot yet cope with major challenges. Although Pacific Asia is now a world force, its institutions for cooperation and coordination are in their infancy. And in three major countries China, Japan, and Indonesia-leadership transitions are underway that complicate both their own decision-making and others' assessments of their future actions. In this dynamic and uncertain situation, the United States needs to stay closely involved in the region but also to be patient and take the long view.