Paper
Douglas H. Paal
{
"authors": [
"Douglas H. Paal"
],
"type": "other",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Carnegie China"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "asia",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie China",
"programAffiliation": "AP",
"programs": [
"Asia",
"South Asia"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"South Asia",
"India",
"East Asia",
"China",
"Southeast Asia",
"North Korea",
"South Korea"
],
"topics": [
"Economy",
"Trade",
"Foreign Policy"
]
}
Source: Getty
Other
Asia—Shaping the Future
The next U.S. administration needs a clear strategic vision for Asia befitting the region’s status as the new global “center of gravity.”
Published on Jun 26, 2008
The next U.S. administration needs a clear strategic vision for Asia befitting the region’s status as the new global “center of gravity.” In a new policy brief, Asia—Shaping The Future Carnegie China Program Director Douglas H. Paal presents key steps the United States should take to advance its interests in “rising Asia.”
Recommendations for the next U.S. president:
- Decide early on clear U.S. strategic objectives in the region, and signal to China where constructive cooperation will lead.
- Appoint a high-level advocate for Asia, a clear signal to the region of its importance.
- Prioritize the bewildering alphabet of organizations and venues to achieve those objectives. Consider inviting China and India to join the G8.
- Anticipate greater Chinese and Indian military and trade capabilities by developing new multilateral security and economic arrangements in the region.
- Avoid coalitions based on common values or democracy. Asia is too diverse and complicated for them to succeed.
- Ditch the “war on terror” rhetoric, which has proved divisive and counterproductive.
Paal concludes:
“In sum, the new American administration should prepare before taking office and in the immediate aftermath to address this discrete set of issues involving the Asia-Pacific region, some big and bold, others small but telling policy adjustments. Experience has shown that it would not be wise to repeat the Clinton and George W. Bush mistakes of supporting any policy but their predecessors’. Clinton’s “anything but Bush” approach to China and Bush’s “anything but Clinton” approach to North Korea have both been costly. Whether it wins one term or two, the life of any new administration will be short in retrospect. And the time for creativity and policy innovation is much shorter yet.”
About the Author
Douglas H. Paal is the director of the Carnegie China Program based in Washington and Beijing. He served as the director of the American Institute in Taiwan from April 2002 to January. Paal was the special assistant to President George H. W. Bush for National Security Affairs and senior director for Asian Affairs on the National Security Council, where he had also served during the Reagan administration.
About the Author
Douglas H. Paal
Distinguished Fellow, Asia Program
Paal previously served as vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase International and as unofficial U.S. representative to Taiwan as director of the American Institute in Taiwan.
- America’s Future in a Dynamic Asia
- U.S.-China Relations at the Forty-Year MarkQ&A
- +1
Douglas H. Paal, Tong Zhao, Chen Qi, …
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Europe
- From Trade Dependence to Geopolitical Leverage: The EU in an Era of Weaponized InterdependencePaper
As geopolitical rivalry weaponizes global supply chains, the EU’s true vulnerability lies in emerging-risk imports. For these goods, suppliers are growing more concentrated, substitution more difficult, and political risk is looming.
Sinan Ülgen
- European Security Strategy: In Search of a New AmbitionCommentary
The EU is putting together a new security strategy to meet today’s myriad challenges. But for any proposal to be effective, the union needs to grapple with its identity and ambitions.
Pierre Vimont
- Reviving Kosovo-Serbia Normalization TalksCommentary
Three years after the Ohrid Agreement, Kosovo and Serbia remain far from normalization. To revive implementation, the EU should abandon its ambiguity and act as an even-handed arbitrator.
- +1
Miloš Pavković, Fitim Gashi, Iliriana Gjoni, …
- The Climate Blind Spot in Europe’s New Migration PactCommentary
The EU’s new migration policy is not suited to today’s realities. With climate change increasingly becoming a driver of displacement, Europe needs to rethink its deterrence-focused approach.
Shana Tabak
- In the Middle East, Europeans Bow Down to the United StatesCommentary
Europe seems to have accepted its sidelining in the Middle East. The EU must reassert its support for the international rules-based order and step up engagement.
Rym Momtaz
