Architecture of U.S. Asia‐Pacific hegemony

Abstract

As the last 100 years of Philippine history testify, military colonization, foreign military bases, and unequal alliances have been essential to the United States’ Asia‐Pacific empire. U.S. efforts to return to this island nation through the ostensibly benign “Visiting Forces Agreement” and the construction of the enormous General Santos base in Mindanao illustrate the continuing U.S. presence in the Asia—Pacific. Having bases in the Philippines allows U.S. domination of strategic sea lines of communications and U.S. foreign military intervention. But the real foundation for U.S. Asia—Pacific hegemony is the 45‐year‐old U.S.‐Japan Mutual Security Treaty (MST), which has been revised and expanded for the twenty‐first century.