The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia

'The Pivot' is a valuable and timely perspective on the past, present, and future U.S. relationship with the Asia-Pacific region. Based on the author's deep knowledge of the subject matter and personal experience as President Obama's and Secretary Clinton's top diplomat for Asia, the book builds the compelling case for the U.S. "strategic pivot" to the Asia-Pacific and outlines a nuanced strategy to build a comprehensive and sustainable American role in the region. Essential reading for policy-makers, regional experts, as well as those interested in foreign affairs and U.S. policy development generally, Kurt Campbell's narrative is insightful and enjoyable to read, providing anecdotes and commentary throughout which situates the policy in context. Overall, this is a well-researched and intellectually stimulating blue print for U.S. policy in Asia.

This is a great book for anyone interested in Asia or American foreign policy more broadly. The United States has been dragged into repeated conflicts in the Middle East while Asia, a prosperous region home to the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies, too often receives insufficient attention. Campbell makes the case in eight chapters for why Asia should receive more focus. The first few chapters are a highly engaging focus on the statistics behind Asia’s rise and massive size as well as the history of American involvement there. The next few chapters focus on surveying Asia’s current moment of transition and on offering policy prescriptions that would allow the United States to reap the benefits of that rising region. The book then closes with some illuminating anecdotes from Campbell’s time at the heights of American diplomacy in Asia. I found it a fun and useful read and highly recommend it!

Very enlightening thus far. A fair amount of repetition in the first fifty pages, perhaps because he was, in Richard Armitage's words, "the chief architect of the Obama administration's pivot to Asia" and felt the need to defend it from critics. However, my major complaint is Dr. Campbell's penchant for writing mile-long sentences. It is disconcerting to reach the end of an excessively long sentence and have to go back to the beginning to see the linkage. If too many cooks spoil the broth, guess what too many clauses in a sentence do.His effusive praise of Hillary Clinton led this reviewer to think he's campaigning for the job of Secretary of State. And given the importance of the continent that is his area of expertise, Kurt Campbell would not be an inappropriate choice.

This is an informative read and it really illustrates the Pivot. Many people should read it and others like it in order to understand why Asia is so essential to the U.S.'s foreign policy.

A good book for those not familiar with current Indo-Pacific events and policies. It is also a valuable "marketing" book to sell the importance of the Indo-Pacific region to those in Washington, D.C., and perhaps other non-Asia capitals around the world who may not understand what stands to be gained or lost if policies and priorities are not aligned appropriately. If you're curious about what the Rebalance or "Pivot" means, this is as good a resource as any out there, and considering the experience of the author, may be one of the best. For those who work in the region on Indo-Pacific policy, there isn't a great deal of new information or insight. I recommend this book for students or new Foreign Service or Foreign Area Officers as a means to get a relatively quick history and overview, and provide some new ideas.As a veteran Indo-Pacific foreign policy practitioner, I did not find any surprises or additional actions we can take. For instance, Mr. Campbell recommends a ten-point plan as a strategy, but many of his points are already in progress. For instance, his recommendation to bolstering and integrating alliances is ongoing. A slow and steady shift away from a wagon wheel of bilateral relationships towards tri-lateral or multilateral relationships reflect that is going on today and is a continuation of what has been policy for some of us for some time. The difference is that we are getting more traction now as the geopolitical balance changes and each nation adjusts as necessary. His recommendation to engage regional institutions is also already ongoing. Granted, under the Obama Administration, this has been more obvious, but only because he may have had the "luxury" to do so with events winding down in Southwest and Central Asia. His recommendations for implementation are also spot on with respect to the "power of balance," just showing up, and conducting/gardening. You'll have to read his book to understand some of those references.Although I have some experience with Mr. Campbell's work and reading some of the more official and mundane correspondence that we see on a day-to-day basis, this is the first time that I have actually read one of his books. I do appreciate that his conclusion is, in fact, a rather well written conclusion of the chapters and key points in his book. As many of us know, repetition is key to learning, and the flow from introduction, chapters, and conclusions is helpful in reinforcing his message.

The book was exceptionally well argued. The foreign policy framework that Dr. Campbell constructs is comprehensive, clear, and well considered. His prose is straightforward and accessible.

Informative

I am very sorry to have bought this book. There is much more information on dozens of blogs on the web. It is the book of a sycophant, a flatterer, and with so little geopolitical culture and which apparently one sole objective was to try to gain a position in the future government of Clinton. This of course did not happen. But apparently Trump is performing the same geopolitics ... funny.

Kurt Campbell, a US State Department insider, has given us a comprehensive and highly accessible guide to how America plans to handle the rise of Asia and from that a New World Order. The 'Pivot' to Asia, widely announced five years ago, has gained little public recognition save for the occasional flare up in the Chinese-claimed South China Sea. The policy, however, is far more than that. It is to embrace a region that is 'home to more than half the world’s population, contains the largest democracy in the world (India), the second- and third-largest economies (China and Japan), the most populous Muslim-majority nation (Indonesia), and seven of the ten largest militaries. Yet, while Asia, fuelled by the rise of China, has been consolidating and moving forward, America has been locked, for more than a decade, into the Middle East and North Africa that in comparison are going nowhere. The plan now is to balance the focus on the catastrophes there with a region that is the leading destination for American exports, outpacing Europe by more than 50 percent. Campbell worked closely with Hillary Clinton on designing the Pivot when she was secretary of state. In the Oval Office she would certainly inject it with fresh impetus. Campbell has delivered a superb primer filled with detail, data and anecdotes --not least his lifting souvenirs from Air Force One in Myanmar.