{"id":12892,"date":"2014-03-19T12:15:39","date_gmt":"2014-03-19T01:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=12892"},"modified":"2014-03-20T11:30:05","modified_gmt":"2014-03-20T00:30:05","slug":"qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/","title":{"rendered":"QDR 2014: more reassurance than worry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"US<\/a><\/p>\n

Peter Jennings\u2019 recent post on the 2014 QDR<\/a> led me to read the report\u2014and its\u00a050% longer, more ambitious and less focussed 2010 predecessor.<\/p>\n

I’ll adopt Peter\u2019s format of worries and hopes\/opportunities for Asia-Pacific allies and partners (the majority of states in this region). The 2014 document and the comparison with its predecessor left me with three worries, three reassurances\/opportunities and a net assessment that the reassurances significantly outweigh the worries.<\/p>\n

Worries<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. For Australia in particular, the 2014 QDR is squarely an Asia-Pacific-oriented document with no mention of the broader and more diffuse Indo-Pacific construct championed in the 2013 Australian defence white paper<\/a>. India barely gets a mention in the 2014 QDR, even as a security partner, and yet it\u2019s at the core of the Indo-Pacific construct. Maybe the successor to the 2013 DWP should follow suit?<\/li>\n
  2. The 2014 QDR seems to deepen the United States\u2019 commitment to the Air-Sea Battle Concept and the key role of regional allies and partners in this China-focussed construct. Yet it provides little clarity on what AirSea Battle means in operational terms, beyond allies and partners purchasing F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. This does little to satisfy fears about the destabilising effects of US strategic ambiguity in the Asia-Pacific<\/a> (PDF).<\/li>\n
  3. The document is very clear that allies and partners in Europe, and not the Asia-Pacific, are the most important security providers and supporters for the US globally. The 2014 QDR contends that \u2018Europe is home to our most stalwart and capable allies and partners and the strategic access and support these countries provide is essential to ensuring that the U.S. Armed Forces are more agile, expeditionary, and responsive to global challenges\u2019; and that \u2018Europe remains our principal partner in promoting global security\u2019. This characterisation doesn\u2019t jive with Australia\u2019s oft-repeated and celebratory view of its alliance relationship with the US. More broadly, this disjuncture between the centrality of the Asia-Pacific globally and the contribution of Europe to American global security concerns supports the US push for greater burden-sharing by Asia-Pacific allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific theatre and beyond.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Reassurances\/opportunities<\/b><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The announced reduction in military ambition and troop numbers is heavily focussed in areas of less relevance to the Asia-Pacific region. The vast majority of troop cuts are from the Army, reflecting QDR 2014\u2019s claim that \u2018our forces will no longer be sized to conduct large-scale prolonged stability operations\u2019. Given the recent contributions of Asia-Pacific allies and partners to such US-led operations in West Asia, this moderation in ambition is likely to be quietly welcomed in many Asia-Pacific capitals.<\/li>\n
    2. In contrast, the 2014 QDR calls for enhancing American presence in Oceania and Southeast Asia and the critical US naval presence in Japan, developing a second X-band radar site in Japan, and boosting the number of large and small surface combatants.<\/li>\n
    3. The language on the essential role extended nuclear deterrence plays in securing the United States and in reassuring its allies and partners is stronger and clearer than in the 2010 QDR.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Overall, the 2014 QDR underlines the defence side of the Obama administration\u2019s \u2018rebalance to Asia\u2019. Now, if the Trans-Pacific Partnership can be completed soon and Congress can provide the President with Trade Promotion Authority<\/a>, the trade and commercial side of the \u2018rebalance\u2019 can catch up.<\/p>\n

      Malcolm Cook is a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Image courtesy of Flickr user EUCOM<\/a>.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Peter Jennings\u2019 recent post on the 2014 QDR led me to read the report\u2014and its\u00a050% longer, more ambitious and less focussed 2010 predecessor. I’ll adopt Peter\u2019s format of worries and hopes\/opportunities for Asia-Pacific allies and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":12893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[363,143,1425,325,56,723,378,31],"class_list":["post-12892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-airsea-battle","tag-asia-pacific","tag-defence-white-paper-2013","tag-europe","tag-indo-pacific","tag-quadrennial-defense-review","tag-rebalance","tag-united-states"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nQDR 2014: more reassurance than worry | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"QDR 2014: more reassurance than worry | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Peter Jennings\u2019 recent post on the 2014 QDR led me to read the report\u2014and its\u00a050% longer, more ambitious and less focussed 2010 predecessor. I’ll adopt Peter\u2019s format of worries and hopes\/opportunities for Asia-Pacific allies and ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-19T01:15:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-03-20T00:30:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/EUCOM.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"373\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Malcolm Cook\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Malcolm Cook\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/EUCOM.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/EUCOM.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":373,\"caption\":\"US ARMY GARRISON GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - U.S. Army Lt. Col. Carleton Lee, U.S. European Command exercise director receives the report of nearly 40 nations participating in exercise Combined Endeavor 2013, Sept. 12, 2013. Despite the 'rebalance' and a strong US-Australia alliance, the QDR 2014 emphasises the primacy of Europe as the US' principal partner in promoting global security.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/\",\"name\":\"QDR 2014: more reassurance than worry | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-19T01:15:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-20T00:30:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/2938fc19b8e9e3f48129aca12e7914f3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"QDR 2014: more reassurance than worry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/2938fc19b8e9e3f48129aca12e7914f3\",\"name\":\"Malcolm Cook\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b1ff5f320d2be1a72dbc110984411c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b1ff5f320d2be1a72dbc110984411c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Malcolm Cook\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/malcolm-cook\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"QDR 2014: more reassurance than worry | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"QDR 2014: more reassurance than worry | The Strategist","og_description":"Peter Jennings\u2019 recent post on the 2014 QDR led me to read the report\u2014and its\u00a050% longer, more ambitious and less focussed 2010 predecessor. I’ll adopt Peter\u2019s format of worries and hopes\/opportunities for Asia-Pacific allies and ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2014-03-19T01:15:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-03-20T00:30:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":373,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/EUCOM.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Malcolm Cook","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Malcolm Cook","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/EUCOM.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/EUCOM.jpg","width":640,"height":373,"caption":"US ARMY GARRISON GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - U.S. Army Lt. Col. Carleton Lee, U.S. European Command exercise director receives the report of nearly 40 nations participating in exercise Combined Endeavor 2013, Sept. 12, 2013. Despite the 'rebalance' and a strong US-Australia alliance, the QDR 2014 emphasises the primacy of Europe as the US' principal partner in promoting global security."},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/","name":"QDR 2014: more reassurance than worry | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2014-03-19T01:15:39+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-20T00:30:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/2938fc19b8e9e3f48129aca12e7914f3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/qdr-2014-more-reassurance-than-worry\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"QDR 2014: more reassurance than worry"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/2938fc19b8e9e3f48129aca12e7914f3","name":"Malcolm Cook","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b1ff5f320d2be1a72dbc110984411c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b1ff5f320d2be1a72dbc110984411c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Malcolm Cook"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/malcolm-cook\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12892"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12915,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12892\/revisions\/12915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}