As President Biden meets this week with America’s NATO allies at the Vilnius Summit, attention has turned to Sweden’s and Ukraine’s prospects for the Atlantic alliance. Europe is not the only continent where America’s military commitments are up for debate, however. On this episode of None Of The Above, we look further east to America’s alliance in the Asia-Pacific. More specifically, its often fraught relationship with one of its longest-standing allies — the Philippines.

Caught between the United States and China, Manila — which edged closer to Beijing during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte — has recently doubled down on its alliance with Washington. Earlier this year, it expanded the US military’s access to bases there. It is fast becoming the focal point of America’s efforts to counter China in the South China Sea. But is this such a good idea? This week’s guest, the Quincy Institute’s Sarang Shidore, tells the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah this alliance — and America’s military footprint across Asia in general —  may be a liability worth reconsidering.

Sarang Shidore is the director of studies and senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. His research focuses on Asia, the Global South, and the geopolitics of climate change.

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