The US "rebalance" towards Asia
The purpose of this conference is to examine how the diplomatic, military, and economic repositioning of the United States in the Asia Pacific, the so called US Rebalance to Asia, has affected transatlantic relations. Despite its crucial importance for contemporary international politics, the US Rebalance has so far remained largely under explored in French academia. Accordingly, by bringing together a highly select group of speakers (and audience) from the two sides of the Atlantic, this one-day seminar seeks to enrich the understanding of this critically relevant subject for the future of transatlantic relations. Gathering both scholars and policymakers from both Europe and the United States allows to explore and compare the perspectives of researchers and decision-makers on the rationale, substance and consequences of the US Rebalance to the Asia Pacific. This conference also find its roots in a longer term project at the CERI which aims to revitalize French scholarly research on foreign and defense policy (i.e. Security Studies).
This one-day seminar is organized in three panels, each covering distinct facets of the US Rebalance towards Asia.
Panel I: From ‘Pivot’ to ‘Rebalance’: 18 month on
The first panel analyzes the origin of the ‘US Rebalance’ policy and its evolution over time. To do so, it first assesses the main goals of the original policy and how the administration’s framing of the discourse on the pivot has changed over time (as seen in the shift from “pivot” to “rebalance”). The panel then examines how these goals have been pursued in the multiple dimensions of the policy (military, diplomatic, and economic). The existing literature and public debates on this issue have tended to focus exclusively upon the military realm while downplaying its diplomatic and economic dimensions. Accordingly, providing a detailed assessment of the various components of US policy toward the Asia Pacific, including the diplomatic and economic dimension, this panel therefore sheds light upon the heterogeneous political, military, and economic interests at stake for the US in its Rebalance towards Asia.
Working Lunch: Russia’s perception of the Rebalance
Russia’s perceptions of the US Rebalance towards Asia and its impact upon Russian interests in the region.
Panel II: Rebalancing in Asia
The second panel seeks to assess how the American rebalance has affected regional security policies in Northeast and Southeast Asia. In particular, it examines the impact of the US policy shift on: (a) China’s foreign and defense policy interests; (b) on South Korea and Japan’s relations with the US; (c) and on the maritime security dynamics in Southeast Asia.
Panel III: Impact on Transatlantic Relations
Having first provided an overview of the American military engagement on the European continent, panel III examines the consequences of the US rebalance towards Asia for Europe and for transatlantic relations. To do so, it seeks to apprehend what are the implications of the US policy shift for transatlantic political and defense relations, and how the rebalance has affected Europe’s security and economic interests in Asia.
