From NATO to PTO

An inevitable shift is taking place in American foreign policy and the world may be headed to a new bi-polar makeup. The game will be played with different pieces, rules and on a different board then last time round. The US-Soviet tension was orchestrated through vast arrays of conventional and nuclear arms. The main area of tension quickly consolidated (Europe) and in the peripheral areas some proxy conflicts were fought.

In the new era, things will change. The Chinese -America divide will reduce Europe to a second-tier player, no more then a market, unless it asserts itself. In the Pacific Rim, tension is already building up. The South China Sea, the Taiwanese question, the Korean quagmire provide ample occasion for conflicts to erupt. America still thinks it needs to maintain the status quo in the region. Whereas, if they truly want to serve their interests, they ought to go far beyond that. A PTO (Pacific Treaty Organization), modeled after NATO would be an adequate way to consolidate the position of it's allies in the region, before Chinese economic and cultural expansion starts swaying them into their camp. It would be a slap in the face of the Chinese, but necessary for the American raw interest, regardless. American strategic thinkers seem to -paradoxically- reason that Chinese economic expansion and military buildup will intimidate its neighbors and keep them safely in the American camp.

This may hold up to a certain extent, as for now we see many Pacific nations rally to the Stars and Stripes. But isn't it exactly America's economic and military prowess that put them in the drivers' seat, in the first place? Big shifts such as both world wars were needed to point out to other countries just to what extent the US had surpassed them. But with or without these major rifst in history, inevitably so, this would have been the result. The Chinese are only to grow in influence and the only thing holding them back will be how they play their cards, how long the US can stall them and how the international community sets out to organize itself. The only realistic balance to be achieved against the Chinese in the future, is a world of interlocked decision-making and balances that far surpass the level of super-nations.