Opinion | US policy failure in the Philippines has deep roots: decades of American cultural hubris
- Rodrigo Duterte’s move to distance the Philippines from its former colonial ruler was long in coming. Generations of US foreign-policymakers have advanced US interests as if they were the same as Philippine interests – which they are not
But Duterte’s move to officially distance the Philippines from the US militarily was long in coming and should have been foreseen. Indeed, this particular US foreign policy failure is the inevitable result of blinkered diplomatic ignorance and arrogance.
The reactions of Asia policy wonks have ranged from panicky predictions of a serious blow to the US’ hub-and-spokes alliance system in Asia (as well as its “war on terror”) to variations on “don’t worry, this too shall pass” (“this” being the Duterte administration, that is).
Writing in the Japan Times, Brad Glosserman asserts that Manila’s termination of the VFA makes another pact with Washington, the Mutual Defence Treaty, “almost impossible to administer”.
However, when the possibility of a downturn in bilateral military relations arose last year, Satu Limaye, director of the East-West Centre in Washington, did not think the alliance was in danger of unravelling. He said US-Philippines relations “have weathered far worse than the current tempest”.
Nevertheless, some in the US government are worried. The US embassy in Manila called the termination “a serious step with significant implications for the US-Philippines alliance”.