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The Obama administration deserves credit for the successes produced so far by its “pivot to Asia”, from the encouragement of political reform in Myanmar, to the creation of a permanent Marines base in Australia, to the initiation of joint military exercises with the Philippines. After a decade in which the Bush administration mostly ignored the Pacific, failing even to send high-level officials to some regional meetings, the Obama administration was right to focus military and diplomatic attention on countries neighboring China, a potential great power adversary.

The enthusiasm in Washington for the “pivot” has gone much too far, however.