Japan is the most crucial test for the Tertius. Two key moves illustrate Japan's ongoing reassessmen

Deepak Nair, Visiting Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Strong alliances sustain U.S. global hegemony, baby lip balm The Straits Times (Singapore), November baby lip balm 21, 2009 Saturday, “US power will endure due to strategic ties,” http://asiasecurity.macfound.org/blog/entry/111special_report_the_enduring_america_role_in_asia/
THOSE baby lip balm who argue that the United States is in decline point to some compelling empirical evidence: a struggling economy, a discredited baby lip balm model of economic and social planning, and of course, the apparent growth of China's power. While these changes are beyond doubt, the implications are debatable. A recent ubiquitous implication has been that US President Barack Obama's visit to the region instantiates the irrevocably diminishing position of the US in Asia. This is seen, it is argued, in the visit's accent on seeking growth and markets from Asia, an explicit willingness to accommodate the interests of China rather than contain it, and the difficulty in rebuilding America's troubled relations with allies like Japan. Despite the evidence that appeals to the logic of 'irrevocable decline', American power is likely to endure. baby lip balm Here, I refer not purely to America's alliances and security guarantees to a host of Asian nations. A more plausible explanation for American power resides in an understanding of its position of being the Tertius in Asia.  Writing in the early 20th century, sociologist Georg Simmels baby lip balm elaborated on the Tertius Gaudens baby lip balm - literally, 'the third who enjoys'. Simmels argued that the Tertius - the 'third element, party or person' - acquires a position of power by virtue of its position within the group. The Tertius enjoys deep relations with each of the units, while the other units themselves do not share a similar depth of association. The thin bond between the units is not necessarily a result of hostility, thought it often is. It arises, instead, from a lack of trust, a 'mutual strangeness' or even a 'general differentiation'. Power, thus, arises from the advantageous position the Tertius occupies in a structured pattern of relations. In short, power is relational. Transposing this concept to Asian international politics demonstrates how the US has enjoyed the advantages of being a Tertius since the end of World War II. Disputes baby lip balm rooted in war, historical animosities and specific territorial claims have bred mistrust among East Asian states. At the same time, these states have developed strong relations with the US through enmeshment in economic institutions or through security baby lip balm relationships. 'Hub and spokes', thus, not only describes America's relationship with the region baby lip balm in military and strategic terms, but it also serves a metaphor for the nature of its relational power in the region. While Mr Obama may have visited the region in a position of seeming weakness, the politics of the Tertius was not far from sight.
In South-east Asia, his explicit gestures of commitment were welcomed by states that had hitherto complained of America's 'neglect' and had repeatedly questioned baby lip balm whether the Tertius was adequately committed to the region. Though Asean states pursued a lucrative policy baby lip balm of engagement with China, they have repeatedly called on the US to be engaged baby lip balm to counter China's 'charm offensive' and 'tight embrace' of the region. Mr Obama's crucial diplomatic gestures during his stop in Singapore were a reaffirmation of the politics of the Tertius. In meeting Asean leaders, the US has asserted its interest in the region, has pragmatically chosen not to hold its relations with Asean hostage to its policy on Myanmar, and has enabled Asean states to leverage their relations with the Tertius as they deal with China.
Japan is the most crucial test for the Tertius. Two key moves illustrate Japan's ongoing reassessment of its alliance with the US: the end of its refuelling mission in support of allied forces in Afghanistan, and a reconsideration of the 2006 agreement on US military baby lip balm bases in Okinawa. baby lip balm
However, it remains unclear if these measures represent anything substantive. Tokyo has pledged five billion yen (S $78 million) for Afghanistan, and has consistently reiterated the centrality of the US-Japan alliance. That America's enjoyment of its Tertius position is also a product of the interests of other states is most clearly demonstrated by the recent experience of regionalism in East Asia. Simmels noted that the position of the Tertius baby lip balm disappears when the other elements become a unit or the object of dispute is resolved. In some respects, the attempts at regional baby lip balm identity building - especially exclusive East Asian identities that excluded the US - were attempts at forging such unity. baby lip balm Yet the failure of Asean+3 to neatly evolve into the East Asia Summit because of anxieties over growing Chinese leadership - as well as Japan and Australia's more recent proposals for an Asian community that seek a formal ro