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President Obama\u2019s \u2018rebalance\u2019 to Asia was officially pronounced dead in March this year. Susan Thorton<\/a>, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, stated: \u2018I think you can probably expect that this administration will have its own formulation and\u2026 we haven\u2019t seen in detail what the formulation will be or if there even will be a formulation.\u2019 Thornton referred to the pivot as a \u2018bumper sticker\u2019 in an effort to downplay the announcement. But bumper stickers are crucial, especially when they sell a broad effort to wield hard and soft power. Regardless of what it\u2019s called, the Trump administration needs a comprehensive Asia strategy with both soft and hard power elements if the US is to remain a significant player in the region.<\/p>\n The term \u2018smart power\u2019 was used by American political scientist Joseph Nye, to identify strategic formulations consisting of both hard and soft power. Non-military actions that attract and persuade other nations are considered soft power, while military actions are at the \u2018hard\u2019 end of the power spectrum. In Nye\u2019s 2006 CSIS report \u00a0he stated that the US should focus on five critical areas:<\/p>\n President Trump\u2019s overseeing a recession of US smart power in Asia. He\u2019s damaged long-standing US relationships. His contradictory statements about NATO<\/a> have alarmed allies, and his tense phone conversation with Malcolm Turnbull caused experts to question the future of the ANZUS alliance<\/a>. Vice President Mike Pence then came to Australia on what The New York Times<\/em> labeled a \u2018charm offensive<\/a>\u2019. \u2018Band-aid diplomacy\u2019 would be more accurate. The VP\u2019s tour did not address the cause of damage\u2014it was an attempt to heal the wound. Not even Trump\u2019s commitment to build US military capacity through a 10% spending boost has improved his standing with allies. Trump needs to focus on repairing relationships he\u2019s damaged, as international cooperation is essential to US security.<\/p>\n Significant damage has been caused to institutions such as the \u2018Five Eyes\u2019 intelligence sharing agreement among the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Trump and White House press secretary Sean Spicer made their priorities clear when they repeated an unsubstantiated allegation that GCHQ spied on the president during the election campaign. That prompted two senior UK officials to \u2018express their concern<\/a>\u2019 \u00a0to both Spicer and Trump. Interstate relations were damaged further when Trump disclosed classified Israeli intelligence to Russian officials<\/a>. US institutions need access to intelligence from agencies such as ASIS, ASIO, and GCHQ to protect American interests. Allowing trust to decline will significantly hurt the US.<\/p>\n US leadership in diplomacy and global development is quickly diminishing. Christopher R. Hill, former US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, wrote in April on The Strategist<\/em><\/a> that Trump\u2019s unwillingness to fill key diplomatic posts \u00a0in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo, was a cause for concern. The situation\u2019s about to get worse: Trump\u2019s planned a 28% budget cut for the State Department. Those cuts to public diplomacy, global development and technology initiatives<\/a> will primarily affect foreign aid, the UN and climate change mitigation. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson argued<\/a> the department would be \u2018much more effective, much more efficient\u00a0and be able to do a lot with fewer dollars.\u2019 That\u2019s at odds with Secretary James Mattis, who once told lawmakers<\/a>, \u2018If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.\u2019<\/p>\n In terms of economic integration, withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership has hurt US interests in Asia, causing some nations to shift to the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. The continued pursuance of the TPP<\/a> by 11 nations may result in the US joining it post-Trump. In positive news, Trump has not kept \u00a0his campaign promise to label China a currency manipulator, suggesting he will adopt a status quo approach to economic affairs. Overall, Trump has had a negative but reversible effect on economic integration.<\/p>\n Technology and innovation are a White House priority. Planned funding for the Pentagon\u2019s Strategic Capabilities Office indicates an increase of $300 million to a total of $1.2 billion<\/a>. Investment in defence R&D programs is crucial as they are intended to ensure the US military has a technology advantage and can resist cyber attack. However, there is inconsistency in White House priorities. $3.1 billion dollars is being cut from<\/a> energy research. This will have especially detrimental effects in Asia where climate change is likely to put millions of lives at risk<\/a> and may contribute to future security issues.<\/p>\n Trump has had an interesting start to his presidency. Many of his actions have caused uncertainty among allies and the effectiveness of US smart power in Asia has declined. A sustained focus on smart power is needed, even though a sole focus on military development may be more politically expedient. It\u2019s in Australia\u2019s interests to see the growth of US smart power in Asia. Australians should encourage Washington to pursue strategic interests using all of the tools at its disposal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Obama\u2019s \u2018rebalance\u2019 to Asia was officially pronounced dead in March this year. Susan Thorton, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, stated: \u2018I think you can probably expect that this …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":654,"featured_media":32248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[294,1428,170,786],"class_list":["post-32246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-diplomacy","tag-donald-trump","tag-intelligence","tag-tpp"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n