McMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have begun using the term “Indo-Pacific” in recent months to refer to the region that extends from the west coast of the U.S. to the west coast of India. For decades previously, American leaders had called this swath of the globe the “Asia-Pacific,” or more recently as the “Indo-Asia-Pacific.”
The new turn of phrases is significant, and it calls for strategic communications practices to reinforce this strategic concept.
The shift reflects the Trump administration’s acknowledgement of several key factors: It treats India as a regional power and not just an isolated country on the southern tip of the continent. It emphasizes the contiguous maritime nature of this vast space, which spans two of the world’s three largest oceans, four of the of world’s seven largest economies, and the world’s five most populous countries.
And it serves as an important marker to highlight the multipolar nature of the region and at least verbally offer a counterbalance to Chinese activities in Asia, from military expansionism in the South China Sea to economic development of Indian Ocean logistics bases as part of Beijing’s extensive “Belt and Road Initiative.”