Is the U.S. Distracted from East Asia?

Whether U.S. policymakers admit it or not-they don't-the United States has acted as the world's policeman since the end of World War II. Back then, the other great powers had suffered catastrophic damage to their economies and societies. In contrast, the largely damage-free United States accounted for half the world's remaining economic output. Today, the United States only accounts for about 15 percent of global GDP but nearly 40 percent of the world's military spending. The fracking revolution has made the United States the number one oil producer in the world again. The United States instead needs to focus its attention and resources on what now seems to be the region most important to the United States: East Asia. In recent decades, the combined GDP of East Asia has risen to 26 percent of the world's total. The increasing relative GDP of the East Asian region and the potential of a rising China should require most of the United States' attention and resources, but not to the point of excessive alarm or hysteria.