Pacific security perspective in the US foreign policy in the 21st century

Since the establishment of the country, the main goal of the US foreign policy is to preserve and maintain the existence of the American people and to ensure their welfare. Threat definitions for national security are also made within this framework, risks are taken into consideration, opportunities are evaluated, national interests are determined as a result of developments, and strategies are developed and put into effect. In this direction, the primary priority is given to the continuation of the US hegemony inherited from the 20th century. However, increasing the dose of unilateralism and the use of hard power elements in the US foreign and security policies after September 11, 2001 created a negative situation in terms of US hegemony. The negative effects of the 2008 Economic Crisis carried this to a further level. The reflections of this situation on international politics have also been great. In the 21st century, the geopolitical, geostrategic and geo-economic weight of the Asia-Pacific region, especially in the sub-regions of East and Southeast Asia, has increased. However, it is also a reality that there are many traditional and new security problems in the region. In terms of security, there are sensitive and potentially broken balances in the region. The rise of China has been the most important factor in this change of Asia-Pacific and it has disrupted the pre-existing status quo in the region. The strong position of the USA in the region declined in favor of China and an increasing competition emerged between the two actors in regional and global width. This change concerns the USA closely and causes it to focus its attention in this direction. Therefore, within the framework of the security perspective, Asia-Pacific has gained a central position in the foreign policy of the USA in the 21st century, and a new strategy covering the Pacific and Indian oceans has been put into effect. Based on the current conjuncture, it is understood that the USA will make more efforts and have difficulties in maintaining its hegemony in the future. How successful it will be in this new strategy that it puts into effect within the framework of its own security perspective will reveal to what extent the 21st century will belong to the USA and how safe the American citizens will be in the last stage.