Soon after the American Revolution, certain of the founders began to recognize the strategic significance of Asia and the Pacific and the vast material and cultural resources at stake there. Over the coming generations, the United States continued to ask how best to expand trade with the region and whether to partner with China, at the center of the continent, or Japan, looking toward the Pacific. Where should the United States draw its defensive line, and how should it export democratic principles? In a history that spans the eighteenth century to the present, Michael J. Green follows the development of U.S. strategic thinking toward East Asia, identifying recurring themes in American statecraft that reflect the nation's political philosophy and material realities.
Drawing on archives, interviews, and his own experience in the Pentagon and White House, Green finds one overarching concern driving U.S. policy toward East Asia: a fear that a rival power might use the Pacific to isolate and threaten the United States and prevent the ocean from becoming a conduit for the westward free flow of trade, values, and forward defense. By More Than Providence works through these problems from the perspective of history's major strategists and statesmen, from Thomas Jefferson to Alfred Thayer Mahan and Henry Kissinger. It records the fate of their ideas as they collided with the realities of the Far East and adds clarity to America's stakes in the region, especially when compared with those of Europe and the Middle East.
"Note on Korean, Chinese, and Japanese Terms Acknowledgments Introduction I. The Rise of the United States 1. ""A Theatre for the Exercise of the Most Ambitious Intellect"": Seeds of Strategy, 1784-1860 2. ""How Sublime the Pacific Part Assigned to Us"": Precursors to Expansion, 1861-1898 3. ""I Wish to See the United States the Dominant Power on the Shores of the Pacific"": Grand Strategy in the Era of Theodore Roosevelt II. The Rise of Japan 4. ""Leave the Door Open, Rehabilitate China, and Satisfy Japan"": Defining the Open Door, 1909-1927 5. ""Between Non-resistance and Coercion"": The Open Door Closes, 1928-1941 6. ""We Have Got to Dominate the Pacific"": Grand Strategy and the War Against Japan III. The Rise of the Soviets 7. ""The Overall Effect Is to Enlarge Our Strategic Frontier"": Defining Containment in the Pacific, 1945-1960 8. ""Anyone Who Isn't Confused Really Doesn't Understand the Situation"": Asia Strategy and Escalation in Vietnam, 1961-1968 9. ""An Even Balance"": Nixon and Kissinger's Redefinition of Containment in Asia, 1969-1975 10. ""The President Cannot Make Any Weak Moves"": Jimmy Carter and the Return of the China Card, 1977-1980 11. ""To Contain and Over Time Reverse"": Ronald Reagan, 1980-1989 IV. The Rise of China 12. ""The Key to Our Security and Our Prosperity Lies in the Vitality of Those Relationships"": George H. W. Bush and the Unipolar Moment, 1989-1992 13. ""Engage and Balance"": Bill Clinton and the Unexpected Return of Great-Power Politics 14. ""A Balance of Power That Favors Freedom"": Strategic Surprise and the Asia Policy of George W. Bush 15. ""The Pivot"": Barack Obama and the Struggle to Rebalance Asia Conclusion: The Historical Case for Asia Strategy Notes Index Illustrations"
Michael J. Green is senior vice president for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., and ?chair in modern and contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He has served most recently in government as special assistant to the president and senior director for Asia on the National Security Council staff.
Reviews for By More Than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783
Michael Green's magisterial study is a timely and insightful reminder of the deep and long-standing ties between East Asia and the United States, and the complex interplay between our economic and security interests, and our values, a dynamic which has shaped US policy for two and a half centuries. It is an indispensable point of reference for students and policy makers seeking to understand a critical region where history casts a long shadow, notwithstanding the extraordinary changes of recent years. -- James Steinberg, Syracuse University and former deputy secretary of state With impeccable research and lucid prose, Michael Green provides a first-rate account of the deep historical roots of American grand strategy toward Asia. It is essential for understanding American policy toward a crucial region. -- Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University, and author of Is the American Century Over? Already a renowned Japan expert, Green combines his regional knowledge with a capacious strategic mind and historical sensibility. This is one of the most impressive books I have ever read. It is consistently original, providing on every page fresh insights immersed in a compelling narrative arc, and it is destined to be a lodestar among scholarship on history, strategy, and statecraft. -- William Inboden, Chair, Clements Center for National Security, The University of Texas, Austin
- Runner-up for Arthur Ross Book Award, Council on Foreign Relations 2018
