ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of the US as an external actor in East Asia. Economically, the US is often seen as a player weakened by the erosion of its manufacturing base, mounting trade deficits and increased dependence on foreign borrowing to service its debt. The issue of integrated strategy is further complicated by perceived deficiencies in the coordination of defence planning, economic policy and political-diplomatic relations. Dialogue with Australia, beginning with low-level ministerial talks in March 2006 and culminating with a head-of-state trilateral summit in September 2007 during the APEC meeting in Sydney. A wide array of public and private actors from the US is involved in various aspects of regional governance in East Asia. In economic and security affairs alike, the US federal government remains an important player unilaterally, bilaterally and multilaterally. One major point of continuity in US foreign policy during the second half of the twentieth century was resistance to East Asian regionalism.
