Beginning with its title, The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia, Kurt Campbell’s latest book faces the challenge of signaling both co

Pivoting with Kurt Campbell—U.S. Policy Toward Asia in the Era of China’s Rise

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2024-03-31 22:30:06

Beginning with its title, The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia, Kurt Campbell’s latest book faces the challenge of signaling both continuity and change. In rightfully claiming partial credit for developing the Obama administration’s Asia policy and making the case for continuing on a similar path, he nonetheless subtly breaks from the White House, which calls the policy the “rebalance to the Asia-Pacific,” to advance the “Pivot to Asia” brand more closely associated with the State Department when he served in it under Secretary Hillary Clinton.

It is thus humorous to note that Campbell’s 2006 book (co-authored with Michael O’Hanlon) includes the following phrase: “U.S. foreign policy must rebalance its energies between the Middle East and East Asia” (emphasis mine). Titled Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security, that work framed “China’s almost-certain rise to great-power status” as one of two “overriding national-security challenges” along with “violent Islamic fundamentalists.” In continuing to identify China as an important source of change, The Pivot shows continuity in thinking. To manage that change, Campbell and O’Hanlon’s chapter on China calls (on page 210) for the next president to “make sure that one of the top three U.S. foreign-policy officials is first and foremost an Asia hand.” President Obama did not take this advice, but it is hard not to speculate that Campbell hoped then and continues to hope today that he might one day be one of those three.

If Clinton becomes president, Campbell is indeed seen as likely to serve again as one of her top advisers—if not her top adviser—for Asia policy. Campbell first briefed Clinton in 1995 when she was first lady, before what would become a famous speech at the Global Women’s Congress in Beijing. He writes that in 2008 he had “been an early supporter of then senator Hillary Clinton, briefing her on many occasions and raising money for her campaigns. … I was a ‘bitter ender,’ staying with her until the very last of a disappointing fight … Many of my fellow policy wonks had instead carefully rebranded themselves as having been on Team Obama right from the start, leaving the remaining few of us feeling vulnerable” (page xvi). Thus when Clinton offered Campbell a position as the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, a job to which he would bring deep experience working on the U.S. Asia policy from diverse perspectives in government, his hard work and loyalty seemed to pay off. Now, after leaving the State Department around the time Clinton did, Campbell reportedly co-chairs with Joseph Nye a group of Asia experts connected with the Clinton campaign.