Why Should We Care About Trump’s Indo-Pacific Policies?

Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randy Schriver joins Jim and Ray to discuss how the security policies pursued by Donald Trump’s second administration are likely to affect the U.S., its allies and the broader region.Randy explains that while the first Trump administration may have featured certain splashy events and surprising rhetoric, real progress on policy was more evolutionary than revolutionary. For example, America’s Indo-Pacific alliances were actually strengthened despite confrontations over trade and defense burden-sharing.He further discusses growing influence of economic nationalism on U.S. policy, and how the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) trilateral initiative presents both challenges and opportunities for the struggling American shipbuilding industry. The recently announced U.S.-Japan-South Korea and U.S.-Japan-Philippines trilaterals are also key regional pillars to build upon.Randy touts the need to address the U.S. defense procurement process and industrial base to meet the challenge of a rapidly growing and increasingly aggressive People’s Republic of China.Finally, Randy announces some exciting changes upcoming for the Project 2049 Institute, for which he is the Chairman of the Board.