Archives Indo-Pacific contradictions - Page 2 of 3 - New Eastern Outlook

In June 2026, North Korea issued a series of significant statements demonstrating its desire to revise its position on the international stage. The key idea was that denuclearization is not on the country’s agenda and that its nuclear status is irreversible.

When the Pentagon quietly renamed its largest combatant command back to US Pacific Command on June 16, dropping the “Indo” that Washington had bolted onto the title in 2018 specifically to signal that India mattered to its China strategy, it did more than restore a Cold War-era label; it announced the end of an entire strategic architecture.

The draft of Japan’s 2026 Defence White Paper, published in May, offers yet another illustration of the extent to which the country’s political and military leadership has become literally wedded to the idea of magnifying both its defensive and offensive capabilities, and to constructing its own security at the expense of others.