Commentary: America’s reassurances about the Indo-Pacific leave room for doubt

SINGAPORE: In his first official trip to Southeast Asia, US Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby stressed that America is more engaged than ever in the Indo-Pacific. However, the top Pentagon adviser added that US investment in the region is “coupled with a newfound but common-sense expectation of much greater effort and contribution by our allies and partners”. Mr Colby also doubled down on his criticism of middle power alliances that exclude the US, arguing that efforts to ramp up defence capabilities need to integrate and complement America’s. Such qualifications to US commitments in the Indo-Pacific may give…