But between 2013 and 2018 there was no such gathering of forces. America’s Asian allies—Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand—had little unity of purpose, and certainly nothing that began to resemble the US-led military umbrella that protected Europe. All Asian defense threads led to Washington, DC, where President Barack Obama believed that American global interests were better served through cooperation with China, even if that risked diminishing US power in Asia. On his watch, China succeeded in militarizing the South China Sea with its newly built island bases.
