The Department of Defense today released the East Asia Strategy Report setting
out United States security strategy for the East Asia and Pacific region. The
document explains why U.S. national interests require the continuing presence
of approximately 100,000 troops in Asia.
Secretary of Defense William J. Perry has directed Assistant Secretary of
Defense for International Security Affairs, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., to draft a
series of reports on U.S. regional security strategies, taking into account
changes in the international security environment since the end of the Cold
War. The report on the Asia-Pacific region is the first in this series.
The principal purpose of the East Asia Strategy Report is to explain DoD's
security strategy for the region to Congress, our allies and friends, and the
American public. There have been two previous Asia Pacific strategy reports,
commonly referred to as the "East Asia Strategy Initiative," in 1990
and 1992.
This year's report supersedes them, and, by contrast, reaffirms our commitment
to maintain a stable forward presence in the region, at the existing level of
approximately 100,000 troops, for the foreseeable future.
