Infrastructural Upgrade in Guam and Australia
China’s moves in the Asia-Pacific region are prompting The Pentagon to improve regional airfields. Guam and Australia are currently being targeted for improvement. Expect substantial changes not only in these regions, but throughout bases worldwide.
This information became public on Monday during the 2021 Pentagon Global Posture Review. This study was initiated in March of 2021 under Lloyd Austin, defense secretary. It follows concerns Biden’s administration has in regard to China, the general region of their influence, and Russia.
Much of these concerns can now be linked to the admittedly rocky withdrawal from Afghanistan under Biden’s leadership in summer of 2021. While the Biden administration has declared an end to “nation building”, their tactics has likely made such efforts of more relevant concern than ever.
Now, Iran, Iraq, and Syria are a greater challenge to U.S. forces than before, which could possibly stretch American defense resources more thin than is strategically optimal. It may become necessary to pursue “nation building” protocols even more studiously than before. Infrastructural enhancements in Guam and Australia seem to support this argument.
Further Details from the Asia-Pacific Region
There are no massive changes to the positioning of United States forces globally–at least, none that are presently known to the public. However, analysis of shifts in the geopolitical climate of the middle east could force the issue. Already “refinements”, as the Pentagon report described Monday, are being applied to the Asia-Pacific region.
September saw an emphasis on partnerships between the USA, Australia, and Britain. The partnerships were ostensibly diplomatic in nature, and related to defense. Now Australia has nuclear-powered submarines as a result. Also, U.S. rotational force deployments will be expanded in Australia.
Monday’s assessment is the first of many that are coming. Several key items that will define future assessments include nuclear deterrents, international alliances, global modernization, and cyberthreats.
Expected Defense Changes
Changes in U.S. policy were announced only a few months after Biden took power in 2021. It is expected that 500 troops will be sent to Germany, large scale cuts ordered by President Trump will be curbed.
As of Monday’s announcement, there has been concern among officials in America and Europe regarding Russian forces near Ukraine. It is expected Moscow may have some sort of incursion in Ukraine shortly.
Resistance to this in the U.S. could prompt Russia into more intimate alliance with China, and it’s possible this may also influence Asia-Pacific military enhancements. Russia’s entire GDP is less than Texas’ GDP, meaning any solid moves that could invite U.S. reprisal need to be supported by an equal force.