The U.S. Is Pushing Southeast Asia Toward China. The Iran War Made It Worse. | Council on Foreign Relations
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A new survey of Southeast Asian opinion leaders shows they prefer China to the United States as a partner, while the region’s biggest geopolitical concern is U.S. global leadership.

A new survey of Southeast Asian opinion leaders shows they prefer China to the United States as a partner, while the region’s biggest geopolitical concern is U.S. global leadership.

The United States may have struck a fragile ceasefire deal with Iran, but the war has inflicted damage on U.S. relationships in Asia that were already strained after more than a year of Donald Trump’s unpredictable approach to foreign policy. A new survey of leaders in Southeast Asian countries highlights the weakness of U.S. influence in the region, even among allies and partners.

The annual State of Southeast Asia survey report produced by the Singapore-based think tank ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute is hotly anticipated by regional experts, policymakers, and other opinion leaders. It surveys a range of Southeast Asian elites from academia, think tanks, research institutes, the private sector, governments, and civil society. Though it is not a complete public poll, the survey is generally considered the best gauge of Southeast Asian sentiment on a wide range of issues, including external powers’ influence in the region.

  • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    10 hours ago

    Even (former) US allies can see where the tide is moving, and it’s clearly away from USA, and towards China.
    The Iran war already accelerated that process when USA attacked Iran for no reason, and it was accelerated even more within a few days when it became clear that USA was losing. Now it turns out that it only takes a week or two for USA to exhaust their arsenal of power, and the respect for the US military might is at an all time low.

    1. USA military might is no longer respected nearly as much as it used to.
    2. US political power is diminished by USA alienating allies and even threatening invasion of an allied country!
    3. US economic power is declining because of Trump policies.
    4. The war with Iran will probably bring an end to the petro dollar.
    5. The combination of declining economy and the end of the petro dollar will accelerate the decline of the USD as a global reserve currency. Which will lead to further decline in the US economy.
    6. The above points will all decrease the soft power USA has enjoyed, from a combination of military power, economy and allies.

    Hopefully the free world will gather around EU instead, and EU and China will work within international law, and establish relations that will create progress on both sides, while USA becomes a lot like what UK is today, after also being a global empire.