Heritage Foundation report rehashes Manifest Destiny

The Heritage Foundation, the notorious Right Wing think tank published its 2009 book of charts on the Asia-Pacific region.  It is all rehashed Mahan, “American Lake”, “Manifest Destiny”:

It’s laughable that one of their charts is titled “State of Political Freedom” and it shows a list of Asia-Pacific countries on a scale of Free, Partly Free and Not Free.   But under “Not Free” there is no mention of colonies, such as the U.S. colonies of Guam, Northern Marianas, and American Samoa or the French colonies of Tahiti Nui and Kanaky.  U.S. neo-colonies of Palau, Marshall Islands and Micronesia are mistakenly listed as “Free”.   And naturally, the U.S. occupation of Hawai’i is not mentioned, when it ought to be under “Not Free”.

Another distortion is the chart titled “China’s Military Size Dominates Asia” where the Heritage Foundation shows troop numbers as the measure of military dominance.  But the more appropriate measurement would look at military expenditures, of which the U.S. dominates globally with almost half of total military expenditures, or foreign military bases, of which the U.S. is unrivaled, or nuclear weapons, or aircraft carriers, or submarines…  The Heritage Foundation is hyping the China threat to justify a more aggressive and robust military posture in the region.

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http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/wp112409a.cfm

November 24, 2009

by Walter Lohman, John Fleming and Nicholas Hamisevicz

The United States is no less a Pacific nation than an Atlantic one. The state of Hawaii and the territories of Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa all lie in the Pacific. The United States has five treaty alliances in East Asia (Japan, Korea, Australia, the Philippines and Thailand), the Pacific Fleet, and major military bases throughout the region. It has legal obligations to Taiwan’s security, and a burgeoning economic relationship with mainland China.

In South Asia, the United States is establishing a multifaceted partnership with India; it has a critical partner in nuclear-armed Pakistan; and is leading a war against global terrorism in Afghanistan.

America’s presence in Asia is massive and deliberate. It is the product of more than 100 years of commitment and sacrifice, including the Spanish-American War, World War 11, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and today’s war in Afghanistan.

The United States is in Asia to stay The graphics that follow help to demonstrate why A quick glance is enough to demonstrate the dynamism of the region. Asia is home to more than half the world’s population. Freedom and tyranny live side by side across the region, as do economic opportunity and poverty East and South Asia have some of the best places in the world to do business, but they also have some of the worst. Asia is home to some of the most unstable, dangerous nations in the world, and it is home to some of the most steady and reliable. It is also home to the only country in the world capable of emergng as a peer competitor for global American influence – the People’s Republic of China.

Asia is a work very much in progress. Its sheer size makes its development a determining factor in protecting and promoting American interests and values. Its growth means it will only become more important in the future. And Asia’s dynamism means that nothing about its development can be taken for granted.

Walter Lohman is Director of the Asian Studies Center, John Fleming is Senior Data Graphics Editor, and Nicholas Hamisevicz is a Research Assistant in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation.