US swaps ideology for ‘flexible realism’ and hard deterrence in Southeast Asia

AI Summary

US Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby advocates a 'flexible realism' approach in Southeast Asia, emphasizing practical defense cooperation and deterrence over ideology. His trip to key regional capitals aims to strengthen ties amidst geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific.

Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has pressed Southeast Asian nations to join a “flexible realism” strategy in the Indo-Pacific, as the United States prioritises practical defence cooperation and deterrence over ideology. Speaking at a forum in Manila on Monday, Colby said he would travel to Jakarta, Bangkok and Phnom Penh as part of his first official trip to Asia, delivering a message he called “realistic and perhaps bracing, but also reassuring”: that America’s interests were “more engaged...