What Happened
Pacific Island Chain Strategy May Signal New Era In Defense
A proposal to shift more of America’s military posture toward Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the rest of the second island chain has been put forth, with some strategic changes already underway. According to Pacific Center for Island Security co-founder Leland Bettis, the analysis by Defense Priorities senior fellow Jennifer Kavanagh challenges decades of US security thinking built around containing China from the so-called first island chain. The plan involves reducing the US military presence along the first island chain and concentrating a smaller force farther from China’s coast, with places such as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands at the heart of the proposed strategy. This was first reported by Marianas Press.