US allies in Asia alarmed as think tank calls for pullback

A study by a US foreign policy think tank advocates a major military pullback from the western Pacific, prompting concern among long-standing allies of the United States across the Indo-Pacific, analysts say.

The report was authored by Jennifer Kavanagh, a senior fellow and director of military analysis at the right-of-center Defense Priorities Foundation. Kavanagh calls for the US to "narrow its defense commitments in the region" by ending mutual defense alliances with South Korea, Japan, Australia and the Philippines.

The priority for Washington, she states, is to defend the US homeland and safeguard access to key economic markets and trade routes. That would be best served by pulling back from the "first island chain," which runs from Okinawa in southern Japan, through Taiwan and on to the Philippines.

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