Though Obama was instinctively a realist, the Asia pivot was based on a fundamentally neoconservative worldview, which Hillary Clinton shared. If China clung to its autocratic path, it would pose a growing threat to others. By the same token, if it embraced a Western-style political system, it could be counted on to behave in a law-abiding way. The Asia pivot arose from the pessimistic view that China was showing no signs of democratising. From now on, the Pentagon would split its assets equally between the Atlantic region and the Asia Pacific region. America’s global deployments had
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