SINCE the end of World War II, the United States has largely shaped the contours of the Asia-Pacific region. Our open markets and our security umbrella have helped produce an unparalleled economic miracle benefiting Americans and Asians alike. In two short years the Clinton Administration has cast a shadow over America’s credibility and future in the region.
The Administration can claim the rare achievement of imperiling relations with Japan and China simultaneously; this is the result of a set of initiatives that make its Bosnia policy look like high strategy. The ink was not dry on the recent auto deal with Japan before the U.S. Trade Representative took up the Kodak film case. U.S.-China ties are so tattered that Peking has recalled its ambassador, while fresh evidence of Chinese missile exports to Pakistan suggests a deepening spiral of conflict. And if all that weren’t enough, a truculent North Korea threatens to rip up the UN armistice even as the U.S. and South Korea shower it with nuclear concessions, oil, and rice.
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