The forever diplomatic developments in the region.

Nations across Asia have responded

negatively to the "Pivot." What gains the US has made, have been made through coercion,

political subversion, and even terrorism, and this is done in front of an increasingly geopolitically

aware Asian population. The pivot has been a disadvantage. Concurrently, details of a new

operational concept called Air Sea Battle were released on January 2012 as the same time as

the pivot began, that despite protestations to the contrary, is more or less about how to defeat

China in a conflict. This coincidence of events has regional allies believing that the U.S. has

carefully developed some new "secret sauce" to keep the peace in Asia. Obama’s

administration made a critical strategic choice that affected the posture of Asia. They slashed

the defense budget of Asia last 2009 to the tune of about 400 billion. The defense cuts badly

affect the forces we need in Asia. The stealthy F-35 program has taken a big hit. The navy has

said it needs anywhere from 500 to 313 ships in its fleet. It will end up with around 285 total

ships by the end of the next five year defense program. From my point of view, the sole purpose

of the pivot is stoke conflicts in Asia. The Americans will not fight China directly but they will wait

and encourage other to follow suit. After the firefights started, Americans will get out with it. The

pivot to Asia recognises that the next great threat to Asian peace is China. They are growing

and, flexing their muscles. Like Germany before WW1, they want a big slice of the pie.