The Indo-Pacific Strategy is the overarching US policy framework for the region stretching from the western coast of India through the Pacific Ocean to the United States. The term replaced the older "Asia-Pacific" framing during the first Trump administration, signaling closer strategic linkage between South Asia (especially India) and East Asia, and was formalized in the December 2017 National Security Strategy and a June 2019 Department of Defense Indo-Pacific Strategy Report.
The Biden administration released its own Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States in February 2022, organized around five objectives: advancing a free and open region, building connections within and beyond it, driving regional prosperity, bolstering security, and building resilience to transnational threats such as climate change and pandemics.
Core pillars typically include:
- Alliances and partnerships: deepening treaty alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, and Thailand, plus partnerships with India, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, and Pacific Island states.
- Minilateral groupings: the Quad (US, Japan, India, Australia) and AUKUS (Australia, UK, US), the latter announced in September 2021 to share nuclear-propulsion submarine technology with Australia.
- Economic engagement: the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), launched in May 2022 in Tokyo with 14 partners, covering trade, supply chains, clean economy, and anti-corruption pillars.
- Military posture: US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea, and force-posture initiatives like the Pacific Deterrence Initiative.
The strategy is widely understood as a response to the rise of the People's Republic of China, though official documents frame it in terms of preserving a "free and open" rules-based order rather than containment. Critics in the region note tensions between US security framing and ASEAN's preference for centrality and non-alignment, as reflected in the 2019 ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
Example
In February 2022, the Biden administration released the *Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States*, naming the Quad, AUKUS, and IPEF as central vehicles for advancing a "free and open Indo-Pacific."
Frequently asked questions
The Pivot (or Rebalance) focused on East and Southeast Asia and emphasized the TPP trade agreement. The Indo-Pacific Strategy explicitly includes India and the Indian Ocean, treats China more openly as a strategic competitor, and relies on minilaterals like the Quad and AUKUS rather than a single mega-trade deal.
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