c. Actively Building a Multilateral Alliance System
In order to go on dominating affairs in the Asia-Pacific region, the US has actively strengthened cooperation in the domain of security with countries like Japan, Australia, ROK, and India in an attempt to establish a strategic alliance with the goal of containing the rise of China. Moreover, Japan, which is located to the east of China and has been plagued by maritime disputes with China and domestic resources issues, has more actively served as the “pawn” of the US strategy of “rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific”, actively strengthened its ties with Southeast Asian and South Asian countries, and actively enhanced cooperation with the US and Australia in security and defense domains.
The new Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation emphasizes trilateral and multilateral cooperation in security and defense affairs, especially cooperation with regional and extra-regional partner countries and international agencies. Japan-US military cooperation will be expanded toward “Japan and the US plus one” and “Japan and the US plus X” models. Besides, the US and Japan have been engaged in establishing Japan-US-ROK, Japan-US-Philippines, and Japan-US-Vietnam trilateral security cooperation mechanisms and various multilateral security cooperation mechanisms among Japan, the US, Australia, India, the ROK, and the ASEAN member countries. For example, an intelligence sharing mechanism was established between Japan, the US, and the ROK, especially against the background of the escalating tensions in the South China Sea. Japan has strengthened its military cooperation with countries like Vietnam and the Philippines, offered them equipment like patrol boats, helped the Philippines train its Coast Guard forces, and participated in US-Australia and US-Philippines joint military exercises. By doing so, Japan aims to elevate its own position and shape regional and international security environments favorable to Japan via enhancing bilateral and multilateral military cooperation.
In July 2015, Japan, the US, Australia, and New Zealand held a large-scale combined military exercise in Australia, with a total participating force exceeding 30,000, in which JSDF and New Zealand Defense Forces contingents participated for the first time ever. This exercise indicates that Japan is firing on all cylinders trying to raise the level of its all-dimensional participation in regional security affairs, hoping to play a greater role therein.
In December 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks in a row with Indian and Australian leaders and attempted to forcefully promote security assurance cooperation between Japan, the US, Australia, and India. Abe put forward his “Security Assurance Diamond Vision”, namely, to protect the diamond region formed by Japan, Australia, India, and the US Hawaii.
B. Building a US-Led Alliance System in the Middle East with the Gulf Cooperation Council （GCC） as the Core
Against the backdrop of the “Syrian civil war”, the ISIS crisis, and the signing of the JCPOA, the established alliance system of the US in the Middle East has undergone austere trials and tribulations. In 2015, while the US strengthened the military cooperation with its traditional allies like Saudi Arabia and Israel, it worked hard to repair and improve its relations with GCC member countries, hoping to build an American-led alliance system in the Middle East with the GCC as the core.
In 2015, the traditional allies of the US, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, continued to harbor grievances over the Obama administration’s Middle East policy due to the JCPOA, but the security and military cooperation between these countries and the US was further consolidated and
enhanced. Because the commitments of the US to provide military aids to Israel were defined by domestic legislation in the US, the contradictions between Israel and the Obama administration did not affect the military and security cooperation between the two countries.
The US provided military aids to Israel as planned and both countries went on conducting cooperation in missile defense and the research and development of other military technologies. On March 26, 2015,Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and other countries launched air strikes codenamed “Operation Resolute Storm” against the areas controlled by Houthi militant groups in Yemen. In the military operations conducted by Saudi Arabia and other countries, the US provided intelligence support to Saudi Arabia, established a common coordination mechanism, and delivered weapons and equipment to Saudi Arabia.
On May 14, 2015, US President Obama and Heads of Delegations of the six GCC member states held a day-long meeting at Camp David in the US with in-depth discussions about Iran’s nuclear issue, regional security cooperation, counter-terrorism, maritime security, cybersecurity, ballistic missile defense, etc. The joint statement issued after the meeting said that the US and the six GCC member states agreed to improve security cooperation. President Obama stated at the press conference after the meeting that the summit established the “impregnable security cooperation” between the US and the Gulf states. At the summit, the US pledged that it would work jointly with the GCC states to “deter and confront an external threat to any GCC state’s territorial integrity.” The US and the GCC member states would carry out “wide-ranging cooperation” in military affairs. Both sides also exchanged ideas on combating the extremist group ISIS, the situation in Syria, and Israel-Palestine conflicts. This meeting basically identified the future fields for cooperation between the US and the GCC member states, mainly including missile defense, maritime security, counter-terrorism, arms sales, joint military exercises, and nuclear nonproliferation.
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