Myanmar And Bangladesh In US’ China-Containment Strategy – Analysis

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Myanmar And Bangladesh In US’ China-Containment Strategy – Analysis

Myanmar And Bangladesh In US' China-Containment Strategy - Analysis

By: SAAG
May 21, 2012

By Dr Subhash Kapila

United States foreign policy formulations are marked by a significant quintessential characteristic in that its drivers are predominantly strategic in nature and superseding any idealistic political fixations. This once again gets eminently reflected in the new American openings to Myanmar and Bangladesh in recent months.

Myanmar and Bangladesh rose to the fore in United States strategic calculus coincidently with US President Obama’s ‘strategic pivot to Asia’ and to Asia Pacific more specifically.
China - US Relations

China - US Relations

United States ‘strategic pivot’ to Asia Pacific stood underpinned by an American awakening after a decade of strategic neglect that China’s military rise and new aggressiveness now needed to be met by putting into place a China Containment Strategy. American policies of engagement and congagement with China had not worked.

United States policy planners on surveying the security architecture of their China Containment Strategy on their operational maps would have been struck by the stark fact that while East Asia and South East Asia to a limited extent served its strategic imperatives, it was the Eastern Flank of Asia Pacific that stood bare without any significant strategic presence or a strategic partnership.

The Eastern Flank of the Asia Pacific rested on three countries—Myanmar, Bangladesh and India. While the United States had a Strategic Partnership with India of sorts, there was no such linkage with Myanmar and Bangladesh. Notably, Myanmar in American military perceptions was a military-client state of China and Bangladesh too was indebted to China as countervailing power to India.

Strategically, it would be a strong American policy imperative to unloosen Myanmar and Bangladesh from their strategic linkages with China. Further, for successful implementation of the US strategic pivot to Asia and its corollary of China Containment Strategy, the American security architecture had to incorporate Myanmar and Bangladesh in that architecture.

Of the two, Myanmar has overwhelming military significance for US strategy as Myanmar has physical geographical contiguity with China in its northern and north-eastern confines. Furthermore China has made heavy strategic, military and political investments on Myanmar as part of its counter-containment strategies aimed at the United States.

United States strategic interests on Myanmar are for the very opposite reasons that drove China to woo and invest so heavily and win over Myanmar to its strategic fold.

The United States in a strategic partnership or in a strategically cooperative relationship with Myanmar would be able to deny China a land access to the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. US would be able to neutralise the carefully crafted overland oil pipelines grid from the Myanmar coast to South China. This was a Chinese military aim to outflank and avoid dependence on the Straits of Malacca for its oil supplies which could be blocked by the United States.

More significantly, the full consummation of a Myanmar-United States strategic relationship would facilitate eventually a second land foothold on continental Asia in addition to Vietnam which is similarly being wooed. Militarily at some time in the future, Myanmar’s Navy and Air Force bases could open up for use by United States as part of China Containment Strategy.

Bangladesh while not enjoying any geographical contiguity with China has what one could call strategic contiguity with China as countervailing power against India and also in the process having a Bangladesh-China Defence Cooperation Agreement.

Bangladesh figures in the strategic calculus of the United States militarily in the Navy and Air Force domains. In the United States China Containment Strategy, with Bangladesh strongly in its fold eventuality exists where the US Navy and US Air Force could use Bangladeshi bases.

Politically, our policy planners view offshore oil-blocks only in economic perspectives. But United States policy planners view these in strategic and military terms. The United States strategic formulations would be to deny to China access to and use of respective offshore oil-blocks of Myanmar and Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal. It must be remembered that an important component of US China Containment Strategy would be the ‘energy strangulation’ of China.

Concluding, it needs to be highlighted that United States recent political moves towards Myanmar and Bangladesh were not motivated by Myanmar’s release of Aung San Syuu Kyi and democratic reforms or in Bangladesh the stamping down on Islamist terrorist organisations. These were political moves, more as political fig-leaves, to provide suitable cover for the U-turn in US policies especially in the case of Myanmar.

United States recent openings to Myanmar and Bangladesh have to be viewed in the long-term perspective as driven by US strategic imperatives to draw-in Myanmar and Bangladesh into the over-arching US China Containment Strategy as both Myanmar and Bangladesh were the missing dots on the Eastern Flank of the Asia Pacific security architecture of the United States.

India has to note that the United States has for years has militarily activated the Arabian Sea; the United States is now in the process of militarily activating the Bay of Bengal hitherto fore viewed by Indian policy establishment as exclusive military backwaters of India. The military connotations of such moves whether in complementary role to US strategies or even in terms of India’s independent strategic postures need to be seriously contemplated by India’s policy planners.

 

[kalu_miah]

Bangladesh is no US pawn and Insha-Allah never will be one. We are good friends, that is all. We have interest in joining ASEAN and reduce Indian influence in this region. If US can help us with that we should side with the US, if China can help us more for our above goals, then we should side with China. It is pure business onlee. No hard feelings.

For the moment it seems the idiots in charge of creating geopolitical strategies in US state dept. have decided to work with India in the region, which will be suicidal for the US in my opinion, but they never were a very bright bunch of people, looking at the track record. So my inclination and recommendation for Bangladesh now is to lean towards China rather than the US, as it seems that with this level of competence in strategic affairs, the US will eventually be defeated globally by China.

 

[PlanetSoldier]

Bangladesh is no US pawn and Insha-Allah never will be one. We are good friends, that is all. We have interest in joining ASEAN and reduce Indian influence in this region. If US can help us with that we should side with the US, if China can help us more for our above goals, then we should side with China. It is pure business onlee. No hard feelings.

For the moment it seems the idiots in charge of creating geopolitical strategies in US state dept. have decided to work with India in the region, which will be suicidal for the US in my opinion, but they never were a very bright bunch of people, looking at the track record. So my inclination and recommendation for Bangladesh now is to lean towards China rather than the US, as it seems that with this level of competence in strategic affairs, the US will eventually be defeated globally by China.

For all these we need strong leadership, do you see any such in near future?

 

[SP!TF!R3]

How come Bangladesh,which doesn't share boundary and neither too influenced by China has become USA's China-Containment Strategical pawn???what kind of strategical foothill can Bangladesh provide??

 

[idune]

How come Bangladesh,which doesn't share boundary and neither too influenced by China has become USA's China-Containment Strategical pawn???what kind of strategical foothill can Bangladesh provide??

To Bangladeshi members, please don't respond to such stupid and low quality questions and statements from indians.

 

[kalu_miah]

For all these we need strong leadership, do you see any such in near future?

The mistake we make is that we wait for some leader to change our fate. Instead I think it is better to take the leadership and distribute among the masses. We ourselves, all of us can be the leaders, collectively, to change our fate. So please spread the word among your friends and family and as always keep learning and to gain knowledge, looking for a way out of our difficult national situation. When there is a chance, please take actions. If you want to do something instead of just talk, please contact me:
kalumiah2012 at gmail dot com.

 

[Soumya_india]

To Bangladeshi members, please don't respond to such stupid and low quality questions and statements from indians.

LOL..you guys bring india's name in every thread and now tell others to not to respond to indians..

If you guys have any problem with india then dont bring india's name everywhere..

 

[idune]

Bangladesh matters to America: Mozena

Thursday, 17 May 2012


Dhaka, May 16: United States Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W Mozena said that Bangladesh is a geographically blessed country with huge potential, and is key to promoting regional stability through linkages.

Briefing select editors of the print and electronic media on the recent visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the American Centre at Baridhara on Wednesday, Ambassador Mozena rated Bangladesh as the next Asian Tiger which should be a prosperous middle income country in the next fifteen to twenty years.

“If you go left you go to Kunming in China: go right and you get to Southeast Asia,” the ambassador said.

Secretary Clinton, at a Town Hall meeting during her recent visit to Bangladesh had said that Bangladesh is strategically located between East and West of Asia.

“You have the opportunity to be a crossroads, as you historically have been. The Grand Trunk Road, the old Silk Road, all came to Bangladesh. And now you have an opportunity to serve the same role in the 21st century,” she had said.

Ambassador Mozena said there has been much discussion about a new Silk Road by updating the old one, linking Bangladesh which is sitting in the middle, with central Asia, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.

He said that the United States had a lot of engagements going on with the Government of Bangladesh. The Secretary of State came to institutionalize the ongoing partnership between Bangladesh and the United States, “to underscore our partnership to the mutual benefit” of both the countries.

“It is a win, win, win situation for both. Importantly, Bangladesh matters to America.”
During his one and a half hour meeting with the editors Mozena touched on an array of issues of bilateral concern and replied to queries. In his view the Clinton visit was a success, a great triumph from the point of view of the United States.

The envoy said TICFA, regional cooperation, free access of Bangladesh goods to the US market figured in bilateral discussions. On hartal he said it hurts the economy.

Other American interests include respect for human rights, humanitarian values and democracy. There should be dialogue between the government and the opposition as an alternative to violence. There should be discussions in Parliament, on the steps of parliament if necessary, the ambassador emphasized.

Bangladesh matters to America: Mozena

 

[SP!TF!R3]

To Bangladeshi members, please don't respond to such stupid and low quality questions and statements from indians.

speak for yourself moron(you are asking for this title)...i asked a logical question..how can Bangladesh provide help to USA for containment of China??

 

[R0H1T]

Myanmar And Bangladesh In US’ China-Containment Strategy

Damn our turn's already over, next inline SL/Mauritius

 

[Roybot]

Hah I called this few months back. Bangladesh will have to join the anti China gang, willingly or unwillingly.

 

[Lone]

How come Bangladesh,which doesn't share boundary and neither too influenced by China has become USA's China-Containment Strategical pawn???what kind of strategical foothill can Bangladesh provide??

See the saint martin Island, do some research and feed your own idiocy...

 

[Zabaniyah]

Bangladesh is no US pawn and Insha-Allah never will be one. We are good friends, that is all. We have interest in joining ASEAN and reduce Indian influence in this region.

Where did you get this?

 

[illusion8]

India has to note that the United States has for years has militarily activated the Arabian Sea; the United States is now in the process of militarily activating the Bay of Bengal hitherto fore viewed by Indian policy establishment as exclusive military backwaters of India. The military connotations of such moves whether in complementary role to US strategies or even in terms of India’s independent strategic postures need to be seriously contemplated by India’s policy planners.

Any Idea anyone of what's India's take is in this matter?

 

[Zabaniyah]

Any Idea anyone of what's India's take is in this matter?

No idea. Only guesses. Frankly, India's foreign policy framework isn't very clear yet.