Abstract
To South Koreans, and probably to most Asians, the evolution of Washington’s rhetoric on its Asia policy has been ambiguous. The Obama administration’s declaration that the United States will return, pivot, or rebalance to Asia raised some very natural questions about U.S. policy toward the region. Did the United States ever leave? If it did, then when did it first arrive in Asia? Is this the first return or the second? Why did the United States leave, and why is it now coming back? What messages does Washington want to deliver and to whom? Of course, we all know that the United States never really left Asia; rather, only the relative strategic importance of the region has changed, at least in the minds of U.S. policymakers. The right question should be, then, what does the United States want to accomplish under this newly announced rebalancing strategy?
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