“There is a deep sense that that can’t happen again,” he said at a recent public event at the United States Institute of Peace.
Also Campbell argued that while the Obama administration mistakenly let its emphasis on Asia be viewed as a pivot away from Europe, the Biden administration is more closely integrating the approaches. Campbell said he spends nearly as much time talking with European partners about various Indo-Pacific initiatives as he does collaborating with Indo-Pacific allies.
Still, there’s a nervousness – especially in Taiwan but also in Japan – about whether the U.S. can handle two major security crises if Asia erupts while Ukraine is still in play, said Michael Green, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Leading up to Biden’s trip, the U.S. hosted leaders of Southeast Asian nations to address their economic and security concerns.
“I think you’ll see some statements from the president that go right at that little bit of uncertainty about our ability to – not our intentions, really, but our ability to handle, major challenges in Europe and Asia at the same time,” said Green, who worked on Asian affairs in the George W. Bush administration.
Tomita Koji, Japan’s ambassador to the United States, said Biden’s visit will send the message that the U.S. is not distracted.
“It sends a powerful signal that the United States stays focused on the Indo-Pacific region at the time when people are preoccupied with the situation in Ukraine,” Tomita said at a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies event.
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