The Evolution of US Indo-Pacific Strategy: From the Pivot to Asia to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific
Authors
AHSAN SAEED, ANEES MUHAMMAD KHAN and SABAHT KHURSHID
Abstract
The research aims to examine the evolution of the United States‟ Indo-Pacific strategy from the Obama administration‟s “Pivot to Asia” through Trump‟s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) to the Biden administration‟s comprehensive Indo-Pacific framework, and its manifestations. The study analyzes the geostrategic significance of the Indo-Pacific as the primary theater of great power politics that is characterized by critical maritime routes, economic dynamism, and the rise of China as a regional challenger. The paper discusses how successive US administrations have pursued overlapping yet distinct approaches. Obama emphasized multilateral diplomacy and economic integration while Trump prioritized security competition, alliance strengthening, and defense pacts to counterbalance China. Biden reinforced multilateral engagement, economic frameworks like the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), and a renewed focus on maritime security. Despite variations in emphasis, a clear continuity emerges in the US commitment to sustaining its leadership role, preserving a rules-based international order, and ensuring freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific. The findings suggest that US strategy in the region is both adaptive and enduring that reflects the Indo-Pacific‟s centrality to global power transitions and the shaping of the emerging world order.
Keywords: Indo-Pacific, Great Power Politics, Maritime, Rules-based International Order, Freedom of Navigation.