There are decades where weeks happen, and weeks where decades happen. THat is certainly true of the past couple of months in not just American issues, but the whole Four Pillars space as well.
In Europe, it is now formally official that Ursula von der Leyen, the 2020 World Peace and Security Award recipient, has been re-elected as president of the European Commission. This gives Europe a renewed strong hand of leadership, actively promoting the position of the EU and the continent as a major bloc and strengthening the unity of the bloc too. A strong Europe is a strong Pillar.
The main course this week is, of course, Biden’s decision to no longer seek reelection. He will be serving the rest of this term, and has chosen VP Kamala Harris as the heir-apparent to the nomination. Even though the past two months can be characterized by stubbornness, his administration and its foreign policy objectives have been critical to restoring normalcy and strengthening the alliance networks that one can now see taking shape in the Four Pillars. Policies such as the CHIPS Act, the renewed commitment to Japan, South Korea, and NATO, and the approach with India are important to the groundworks of the Four Pillars. We would like to thank his Cincinnatian decision and the frameworks set up during his term.
On the other side of the aisle, Trump has selected the junior Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate. Rather than a moderate pick, he instead has doubled down on American isolationism. Vance has openly expressed his contempt for Ukraine’s resistance against Russian invasion. Both of these men have also signaled willingness to throw the Pillars (Japan, India, Europe) and Taiwan under the bus vis-a-vis Chinese aggression. In other words, the implications of a Trump victory spells disaster for the Four Pillars’ mission in preserving and defending the rules-based order.
Hopefully, being unburdened by the weight of fear of China’s economic rise and growing political influence, the Four Pillars can imagine an alliance or platform to protect democracy, peace, and security in the Asia-Pacific and across the world.
Article of the week – Expanding AUKUS Pillar 2: An Inclusive Indo-Pacific Alliance Structure [Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies]
