For the WWII grand strategy debate, see Europe first.
The Asia First strategy was pushed for in the early 1950s by the powerful China Lobby of the Republican Party in the United States.[1]
The Asia First strategy called for the future concentration of American resources in the Far East, in a similar way to the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine in Europe, to fight against the encroaching spread of Soviet communism.
The policy was suggested in a period of great anxiety in the US as Cold War tensions were heightened following the Korean War (1950–53) and the 1949 communist takeover in the Republic of China after the Chinese Civil War. These tensions put great pressure on President Truman to adopt this policy, but ultimately he rejected it fearing that it would pin the US down in the Far East dealing with a secondary enemy, the People's Republic of China, while his real concern, the Soviet Union, would have a free hand in Europe.
Truman, however, made some attempts to strengthen the American position in the Far East but not at the expense of Europe. In 1950, the US promised military assistance to the French in the struggle against the Viet Minh in the First Indochina War. Pressured by the Japan lobby, the US ended its purge policy against suspected war criminals and terminated its program to break up Japanese industrial conglomerates, in a policy shift known as the reverse course.[2] In addition, in 1951, the United States signed a Security Treaty with Japan allowing US troops to remain stationed at Okinawa and tying Japan to the US. Also in the period 1950–51, US reinforcements were sent to South Korea to strengthen the US military position there. In this period the US navy was also steamed into the Formosa Strait as a deterrent to prevent conflict between the Chinese nationalists who had escaped to the island of Formosa (Taiwan) and the Chinese communists in mainland China.[3]
^Mao, 2015
^Schonberger, Howard (1977), "The Japan Lobby in American Diplomacy, 1947-1952", Pacific Historical Review, 46 (3): 327–359, doi:10.2307/3637501, JSTOR 3637501
^H. Bradford Westerfield, Foreign Policy and Party Politics (1972), ch. 12
The AsiaFirst strategy was pushed for in the early 1950s by the powerful China Lobby of the Republican Party in the United States. The AsiaFirst strategy...
was the site of many of the first civilizations. Its 4.7 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population. Asia shares the landmass of Eurasia...
British India, the Dutch East Indies (today Indonesia), China, and Japan. Asia'sfirst modern brewery was established in 1830 in India entirely using European...
Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as Maritime Southeast Asia. Other definitions restrict Island Southeast Asia to just the islands...
deployed to the Pacific at the time of Germany's surrender in May 1945. AsiaFirst Declarations of war during World War II Diplomatic history of World War...
The first phase of European colonisation of Southeast Asia took place throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Where new European powers competing to gain...
The Light of Asia, or The Great Renunciation (Mahâbhinishkramana), is a book by Sir Edwin Arnold. The first edition of the book was published in London...
The Asia Cup (Asian Men’s Cricket Championships), officially known as the ACC Men’s Asia Cup is a men's international cricket tournament contested between...
Northern South Asia is a geographical area in South Asia, and includes the northern region of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it is the region...
East Asia is a region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia...
starting at 7:00am SGT. AsiaFirst is a consolidation of two morning news predecessors: First Look Asia and Asia Business First. Previously, a half-hour...
Southeast Asia is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent...
The First East Asia Summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 14, 2005. The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a pan-Asia forum held annually by the...
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. As commonly conceptualized, the modern states...
following is a list of firsts in Southeast Asia. The following are the first buildings of their type: First philatelic museum in Southeast Asia - Singapore Philatelic...
win the cup. The 4 test playing Asian nations participated in the tournament along with, for the first time, leading Asian associate nations, the UAE and...
Central Asian cobra or Russian cobra, is a species of highly venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to Central Asia. First described...
The 2023 Asia Cup (also known as Super 11 Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th edition of the men's Asia Cup cricket tournament. The matches...
FirstAsia Institute of Technology and Humanities is a private college in Tanauan, Batangas, Philippines. The school offers pre-elementary, elementary...
The Asian Festival of First Films (Chinese: 亚裔首作电影节) (AFFF) was an annual film festival held in Singapore from 2005 to 2009 to celebrate and provide a...
North Asia or Northern Asia is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographical terms and is coextensive with the Asian part of Russia and...
The 1984 Asia Cup (also known as the Rothmans Asia Cup) was the first edition of the Asia Cup. It was held in Sharjah, UAE, which was the location of the...
Central Asia is a subregion of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the southwest and Eastern Europe in the northwest to Western China and Mongolia...
to win their firstAsia Cup. Asia Cup Cricinfo Asia Cup page Cricinfo. Retrieved on 14 September 2021 "John Player Gold Leaf Trophy (Asia Cup), 1985/86...
the only national team in Asia to have won three consecutive Asian Cups. The 1972 final was notable as it was the firstAsian Cup to use the group stage-knockout...
Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC) is a diversified natural resources development company in the Philippines, comprising six operating and two exploratory mines...
This is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in Asia. It includes fully recognized states, states with limited but substantial international...
term for not only Indonesian Indians but also Indonesians with other South Asian ancestries (e.g. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, etc.). According to the Indian...
Chrysanthemum indicum, which are most popular throughout East and Southeast Asia. First cultivated in China as a herb as early as the 1500 BCE, Chrysanthemum...
Global Information