PART IV: OUR STRATEGY BY REGION “There’s a fundamental truth of the 21st century within each of our own countries and as a global community that our own success is bound up with others succeeding as well. To deliver for our own people, we must also engage deeply with the rest of the world. To ensure that our own future, we must work together with other partners—our partners—toward a shared future. Our security, our prosperity, and our very freedoms are interconnected, in my view, as never before. And so, I believe we must work together as never before.” PRESIDENT JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR. 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly The United States can meet the challenges of this decisive decade only by partnering with countries and people around the world. Americans rely on and benefit from our broad and deep relationships in every region; invest in and trade with nearly every country; and study, work, and live on every continent. Our future and the world’s are interlinked. That is why our strategy is global. Promote a Free and Open Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific fuels much of the world’s economic growth and will be the epicenter of 21st century geopolitics. As an Indo-Pacific power, the United States has a vital interest in realizing a region that is open, interconnected, prosperous, secure, and resilient. The United States will work with other regional states to keep the Indo-Pacific open and accessible and ensure that nations are free to make their own choices, consistent with obligations under international law. We support open societies through investments in democratic institutions, free press, and civil society and are cooperating with partners to counter information manipulation and corruption. And we will affirm freedom of the seas and build shared regional support for open access to the South China Sea—a throughway for nearly two-thirds of global maritime trade and a quarter of all global trade. A free and open Indo-Pacific can only be achieved if we build collective capacity. We are deepening our five regional treaty alliances and closest partnerships. We affirm the centrality of ASEAN, and seek deeper bonds with Southeast Asian partners. We will expand our regional diplomatic, development, and economic engagement, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. As we work with South Asian regional partners to address climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the PRC’s coercive behavior, we will promote prosperity and economic connectivity across the Indian Ocean region. The Quad and AUKUS will also be critical to addressing regional challenges, and we will further reinforce our collective strength by weaving our allies and partners closer together—including by encouraging tighter linkages between likeminded Indo-Pacific and European countries. NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY 37