Fighting Abroad from an Ally's Land
Hornung, Jeffrey W.; Gunness, Kristen; Rooney, Bryan; McCormick, Dan; Grek, Lydia (2024). Fighting Abroad from an Ally's Land. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, The. ISBN 978-1-9774-1297-3.
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Abstract: Discussions about U.S. military posture in the Indo-Pacific often assume that the United States will have the ability to not only quickly access its military capabilities stationed in the region, but also to freely operate from bases in allied countries. The authors of this report explore this assumption, examining the opportunities and constraints that the U.S. military might face when operating from the territories of Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the Philippines. The authors examine the basing and access assumptions for the U.S. military should it wish to preposition supplies in, and operate from, these allies in peacetime and in a conflict over Taiwan when these allies themselves have not been attacked. For this research, the authors conducted a comprehensive literature review of historical and current studies on access; held an internal RAND workshop with military experts to determine the types of capabilities and access requests the United States might make of Japan, the ROK, and the Philippines in a Taiwan contingency; conducted extensive discussions and interviews in the fall of 2022 with officials and experts in Japan, the ROK, and the Philippines and with U.S. government personnel and experts in the United States who work on issues related to these three allies; and examined important agreements the United States has with each treaty ally that are relevant for U.S. military access and basing. The authors present their findings regarding access and basing for each ally and recommend ways to improve outcomes in both areas.
"...Despite being geographically separated from the Asian continent by over 6,000 miles of water, the United States is a Pacific power. In addition to the state of Hawaii and the territory of Guam, the United States also maintains special relationships with three countries— the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia—via the Compact of Free Association. Through these territorial and compact relationships, the United States is not only responsible for these islands’ defenses, which are associated with special basing and access privileges, but is able to maintain an active military presence in the region. While that presence is the largest in Guam, with 6,667 active-duty personnel as of September 2022, U.S. military presence exists in each location.13 Additionally, the United States maintains five active treaty alliances in the region—with Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), the Philippines, Thailand, and Australia—the first three of which serve as case studies in this report. These alliances afford the United States additional opportunities for military basing and access..."
Extra details:
OCLC: 1456859663 DOI: 10.7249/rra1985-1 OpenAlex: W4402805119
