U.S. Must Play Offense In China's Backyard, Analyst Suggests

As the Biden administration begins its second year in office, it is evident that its focus on the Indo-Pacific and geopolitical competition against China remains uneven.

Photo Insert: The Trade War between the world's two most powerful economies rages on.

There are two small but strategically important countries that have been all but ignored by the administration so far: Cambodia and Laos. This could be a significant miscalculation, Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corp. warned in an article for Foreign Policy.

If the United States were to make inroads in Cambodia and Laos—which observers have likened to vassals, satellite states, or virtual colonies of China—it would take strategic competition into China’s own backyard.

Perhaps more significantly, it would help undermine the persistent narrative that the US is only reacting and playing defense in the Indo-Pacific in the face of China’s all-but-inevitable rise.

Even more than the facts on the ground, that narrative is a powerful headwind to US strategy in the region. It sows doubts about US engagement even among long-standing allies such as the Philippines and Thailand.

Stepping up US engagement with Cambodia and Laos—for example, by countering China’s multiple Belt and Road Initiative projects or enhancing US access to Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base—could also reverse what already seems like a fait accompli: that China will dominate, even subjugate, the Southeast Asian mainland.

Cooperating with Cambodia and Laos could also strengthen ties with neighboring Thailand and US strategic partner Vietnam, both of which share concerns about China, including its construction of dams along the Mekong River, an economic lifeline for all four countries.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic