Who is America's closest ally?
- By An Gang
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E-mail Beijing Review, June 19, 2015
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U.S. President Barack Obama and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meet the press at the White House on April 28, 2015. [Xinhua Photo] |
Undoubtedly, the hegemony of the United States in global affairs cannot be supported without a strong pillar--the U.S.-led alliances that have held control of crucial areas worldwide since the end of World War II (WWII).
Today, the United States maintains military alliance with as many as 60 countries, including the mighty NATO military bloc in Europe, Israel and a string of Gulf countries in the Middle East, Japan and South Korea in East Asia, and Australia in the South Pacific.
It may be interesting to ask, who is the closest partner of the United States today? With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paying an official visit to Washington earlier this year, the answer may be more obvious than one might think.
During his visit from April 26 to May 3, Abe received the warmest possible welcome from his hosts. More importantly, Japan's relations with the United States were lifted to a new height by renewing their defense cooperation agreement. U.S. President Barack Obama addressed Japan as "one of America's closest allies in the world," when he met with Abe at the White House on April 28.
The clout that the United States enjoys in global affairs has been on the decline since Obama's presidential inauguration in 2009. Correspondingly, the Obama administration has made a number of adjustments to its global strategy and its network of alliances, with a focus being put on boosting U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile, the superpower and its close friends in Europe and the Middle East have shown different policy priorities on a variety of issues.
For example, a rift between the United States and Israel is growing owing to their disagreements on an Iranian nuclear deal. German Chancellor Angela Merkel maintains a certain amount of room to maneuver and she did not follow the White House's hardline trade embargo policy toward Russia as Obama did during the Ukrainian crisis. Spying scandals revealed by former U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden has also harmed trust between the United States and its European partners.
Even Britain, typically the most intimate of the United States' allies, has been criticized by its bosom buddy for joining the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in March. Britain was the first Western country to apply for the founding membership of the AIIB, which caused a chain reaction of other major European countries, such as France, Germany and Italy, joining. Previously, the United States reportedly had lobbied its allies to boycott China's proposal to establish the AIIB, as Washington regarded it as a potent challenger to U.S.-led institutions such as the World Bank. In fact, Britain's decision reflects a consensus among a majority of Western countries in dealing with the United States and China. Most continue to maintain allied relations with the United States, but they are not willing to miss any opportunities to engage in the lucrative and potential-heavy Chinese market either.
As a result, only Japan has taken a negative attitude toward the AIIB, which has been used as an evidence by Abe to illustrate that Japan is the closest ally of the United States.
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