The emerging trends of great power politics have transformed the conventional nature of the international system. This transformation has started pushing the existing designs of great power politics towards a complex oceanic political order in which different mini-alliances of states have begun appearing from different regions.
In the debates on the emerging new mini-lateral strategic initiatives of the states, the Pacific Region must be looked at because the contemporary politics of the Pacific Region is witnessing various naval joint ventures between different states. The navies of different friendly states are divided under the US and Chinese strategic alliances. With the support of these two great powers, the regional states have introduced several strategic initiatives to promote and advance their geopolitical interests in the waters of the Pacific Region. These mini-lateral strategic collaborations have also empowered these states in conducting different military exercises under their specific alliances. While having a strong belief that regular military exercises will ensure the readiness of these states against potential security threats, the Sea Dragon multinational high-end exercise is primarily designed to oppose Chinese trading interests in Pacific politics. Such naval joint ventures help the participating states under their specific mini-lateral framework agreements to protect and strengthen their standings in the oceanic politics of the Pacific Region. The recently held Sea Dragon 23 is one of the emerging mini-lateral strategic alliances of the US to counter the Chinese threat (as viewed by them) in the evolving international maritime affairs.
The Sea Dragon 23 was held in March 2023 between the navies of five states (India, United States, Japan, Canada, and South Korea) with the objective of developing a more coordinated approach in the maritime affairs of Pacific politics. Furthermore, this exercise between these navies is designed to create friendly moves under the broader US umbrella based on shared values and commitments to address mainstream challenges in the Pacific Region. This Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) exercise was the third edition for long-range Maritime Reconnaissance (MR) ASW aircraft.
This naval alliance was launched in 2014 to improve joint ASW capabilities while learning maritime-specific modern warfare techniques. The third chapter of Sea Dragon tested the capabilities of the participating navies and their abilities to target underwater objects. This emphasized the ASW training and excellence consisting of 270 hours of in-flight training and this exercise in the oceanic waters of Guam allowed the five participating countries to improve their ASW capabilities against existing challenges. This development has substantial potential for augmenting existing patterns of ongoing great power competition in which the United States and China are the main contestants.
The main objective of this naval exercise is to enhance interoperability among the participating navies, with the aim of empowering the existing responses to counter the emerging security challenges of traditional and non-traditional nature in oceanic politics. The performance ratings of the participating naval forces have been graded under the Dragon Belt Award. This year, the Royal Canadian Air Force secured this Award. Akin to the Dragon Belt Naval Championship, the US leadership has led the QUAD countries and Canada and South Korea to remain committed to counterweighting China in the Pacific waters. By launching multilateral strategic initiatives mainstream American state officials intend to create an active naval alliance that will prevent China from dominating the surrounding oceanic waters.
In the list of several joint naval alliances, the strategic engagement of the US and its major allies in the Pacific Region has resulted in different naval exercises in which the Sea Dragon is one of the leading multilateral anti-China activities. The strategic alignment of Canada and South Korea with the QUAD countries under the Sea Dragon has extended the US vision of countering China’s emerging influence in the oceanic politics of the Pacific Region. Moreover, this mini-lateral strategic alignment has greater significance for the politics of South Asian and Southeast Asian regions, in addition to the politics of the Korean Peninsula, due to the involvement of South Korea. The participation of South Korea and India in this small multi-state maritime initiative has left a negative impact on the security environments of South Asia and the Korean Peninsula under the nuclear shadows. In both regions, the Chinese position has been targeted by the US’ anti-Chinese actions with support of major US strategic allies. The position of Japan in the Sea Dragon Naval exercise proves that this US-led strategic alliance is primarily designed to counter China’s position in the Pacific Region. Consequently, this exercise will allow China focus on its contemporary status in the politics of the Pacific Region while intensifying the international security environment. The Chinese reaction to this US-led maritime alliance would compel Beijing to pay more attention to countering the anti-Chinese moves in the Pacific Region.
Based on the above, one can safely contend that the increasing American strategic engagements in the Pacific Region are cemented in its global geopolitical designs, which has translated the economic rise of China as a potential threat. The US Pacific Partnership Strategy has formally become one of the key features of American foreign policy, mainly emphasizing the encirclement of China generally, and in the Pacific Region particularly. China’s increasing significance according to American geopolitical calculation has been formally acknowledged by different official documents such as the Strategic Competition Act. Parallel to the Sea Dragon Exercise various other strategic initiatives of the US have rationalized America’s anti-Chinese strategic thinking which revolves around the global standing of US counterbalancing forces in the world. China’s reaction to America’s strategic collaborations with different states is bound to intensify the regional security environment of the Pacific Region and it will also degrade and damage the scope of peace and stability in this region.
