The United States Navy’s Pivot to Asia

The Origins of a Cooperative Strategy for Twenty-First Century Seapower

Bruce A. Elleman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9781032444949
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000902341
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Regional Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This book examines the origins of the US Navy's 2007 Maritime Strategy, the formation of the US government's "Pivot to Asia" strategy, and the most recent revisions to this strategy that focus more specifically on China. Besides examining the details of this strategy formulation, the book explores the internal and external repercussions on the US Navy of the Pivot to Asia. It discusses the "Fat Leonard" scandal, which involved bribery and corruption in contracts for the maintenance of the US fleets in the region, and considers the sharp decrease in training and readiness of the Pacific fleet to support the pivot, which in turn led to serious maritime collisions. It also assesses the impact of the pivot on other countries in the region, engaging in the debate as to whether the pivot was necessary in order to convince the countries of the region that the United States had not lost its staying power, or whether the pivot managed to make tensions in the Asia-Pacific worse even while allowing the strategic situation in the Middle East and Europe to worsen as a result of neglect.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Introduction: Why a New Maritime Strategy?
• 1 A Short History of the Process Behind Writing CS-21: A Cooperative Strategy for 21st-Century Seapower
• 2 Maritime Strategy Option Echo’s Impact on CS-21
• 3 Fine-tuning the CS-21 Maritime Strategy Document
• 4 Accolades and Criticism of CS-21
• 5 The Pivot to Asia
• 6 The Fat Leonard Scandal and Solving East Asian US Navy Corruption
• 7 The Capable, the Corrupt, and the Collisions
• 8 Problems in Paradise: The Harley Education Revolution, Mutiny, and Takedown
• Conclusions: CS-21, CS-21 Refresh, and Novus Ordo Seclorum
• Chart A
• Chart B
• Appendix 1: The Historical Background of Maritime Strategies
• Appendix 2: Maritime Strategy Alpha
• Appendix 3: Maritime Strategy Option Bravo
• Appendix 4: Maritime Strategy Option Charlie
• Appendix 5: Maritime Strategy Option Delta
• Appendix 6: Bryan McGrath’s Version of Maritime Strategy Option Echo
• Appendix 7: Naval War College Version of Maritime Strategy Option Echo
• Appendix 8: The Final Maritime Strategy Document Issued October 2007
• Appendix 9: CNO Gary Roughead Guidance 25 October 2007
• Appendix 10: Statement by Admiral Gary Roughead Chief of Naval Operations 13 December 2007
• Appendix 11: Proposed Outline for MARSTRAT Discussion With PCNO
• Appendix 12: News From the Strategy and Policy Department Feb. 5, 2013
• Appendix 13: A Cooperative Strategy for 21st-Century Seapower, March 2015
• Selected Bibliography
• About the Author
• Index