Note:

Below is the text of remarks Dr. Ford gave to an event sponsored by Hudson Institute and held at the Harvard Club in New York City on February 27, 2013. Rear Admiral James Stark, USN (ret.), Dr. Michael Pillsbury, and Eric Brown also took part.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for showing up in the New York rain for this discussion of what was originally called the United States’ “pivot” to Asia – though U.S. officials have more recently tried to style it as a “rebalancing.”

Whatever you call it, as a preliminary matter, let me say that I applaud the idea of our doing more by way of proactive political, military, and economic engagement in the Asia-Pacific. We never “left” the region, of course, and it has always remained a very important U.S. priority, so it is disingenuous to talk of being “back” in Asia as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton initially did. But I do approve of ratcheting up the attention we devote to regional issues, and I do think that the “pivot” has so far produced some good results.

Read more: http://www.newparadigmsforum.com/NPFtestsite/?p=1638