THE PENTAGONS OSSIFIED STRATEGY

The Defense Department's new report on East Asia reads as if the Cold War is ongoing. For Japan, the report signals U.S. acceptance of its r uinous trade deficits. For other Asian nations, it signals the hollown ess of American superpower pretensions. The report masks the failure o f the Clinton administration's trade policy. By insisting Japan remain a U.S. protectorate, Washington encourages Tokyo's reactionaries. The real threat to Asian security is not China but U.S. distrust of Japan as a true ally. Cold War military power is irrelevant to the economic challenges posed by East Asia's dynamism. Someone should tell the Pen tagon.