Observations upon American Policy in the Philippines

Abstract

IT IS NOT EASY to assess the role the United States in the ancient rivalry for power and position in the South Seas. Indeed, it may be questioned whether the United States has now, or ever has had, any policy in that area apart from a reasonably well-defined policy which has been applicable in all parts the Far East. It is abundantly clear that the United States is, today, in East Asia; it is less clear that this country has ever been of East Asia. Among the three great Western powers which are now fighting to maintain the position and prestige the West in the East, the United States is relatively a newcomer. It may also be a transient. It was but little more than forty years ago that the United States acquired the Philippine Islands and thus became a colonial power in the Far East. And, barring a repudiation pledges and a reversal well-established policies, the United States will withdraw from the Philippines at some future date-presumably in July, 1946.' This anticipated withdrawal from the Philippines will signalize the end the brief American empire in Asia. It is very unlikely that it will be followed by any diminution in our concern with what transpires in that part the world. American interests and the foundations American Asiatic policy antedate by many years the acquisition the Philippine Islands; and the interests American citizens and the basic principles our Far Eastern policies may be expected to continue substantially unchanged after 1946. The United States thus occupies an unique position in East Asia, for it is not unreasonable to assume that the Asiatic policies Great Britain and the Netherlands are primarily conditioned by the possession great Asiatic empires, nor is it improbable that their concern with the affairs the Far East would be greatly reduced if they were to surrender their possessions in southeast Asia and in the neighboring archipelagoes. The interest American citizens, and therefore their government,