ABSTRACT
The Pacific region is destined to become the main focus of superpower rivalry can scarcely be doubted. Since the late 1970s, the buildup of Soviet military power in East Asia has provoked growing concern in many Pacific states, notably in China and Japan. Economic vulnerabilities in the Western Pacific are likely to work to the USSR's advantage rather than against it, especially if regional economic arrangements and policies become over burdened with strategic-diplomatic goals. Even if the "security burden" in the Western Pacific were to be defined essentially as the Soviet threat, it remains questionable as to whether efforts to develop a more integrated framework of defense cooperation among non-Communist states in the region would even be desirable. Both demographic and economic trends will continue to elevate the Pacific's importance in terms of both its contribution to global stability and to US prosperity.
