While China openly advanced its aggression by constructing military bases in the South China Sea, the Obama administration limited itself to verbal criticism and failed to take effective action.
This erosion of deterrence led U.S. military officials to sarcastically label the policy “America containment.”
Drawing on Michio Ezaki’s analysis, this article examines the legitimacy of the Trump camp’s return to balance-of-power diplomacy.

And yet, even toward China, which openly advanced its “aggression” by constructing military bases in the South China Sea, the Obama administration limited itself to verbal criticism alone.
2016-12-09
The following is taken from an article titled “Trump’s ‘Radical Claims’ That Are Surprisingly Correct,” written by political commentator Michio Ezaki and published in the January issue of the monthly magazine Seiron.
Emphasis in the text is mine.
Earlier passages omitted.
●Return to Realism
Some media outlets have been stirring anxiety by reporting that if the new Trump administration adopts isolationism and reduces America’s involvement in Asia, stability in the Asia-Pacific region will be undermined and Japan will be placed at risk.
However, from my perspective as someone who has long observed U.S. foreign policy, the Trump administration is merely attempting to return to a long-overdue, sensible foreign policy.
In the late 1980s, the Republican Reagan administration adopted a hardline stance against the Soviet Union, and the Cold War ended with the Soviet defeat.
Although the American people believed they could finally focus on domestic issues, neoconservatives within the Republican Party continued military interventions, particularly in the Middle East.
After years of foreign military interventions following the September 11 attacks of 2001, carried out under the banner of the “war on terror,” the American people grew weary and, eight years ago, supported Democrat Barack Obama, who pledged not to kill American soldiers in foreign wars.
However, the Obama administration implemented rapid military reductions and openly declared that America was no longer the world’s policeman, while also neglecting efforts to maintain peace and stability around the globe.
It even slashed budgets for intelligence activities designed to detect conflicts in advance, sharply reducing deterrence capabilities.
Moreover, toward China, which openly advanced its “aggression” by constructing military bases in the South China Sea, it did nothing more than issue verbal condemnations and failed to take effective measures.
U.S. military officials have sarcastically referred to such Obama-era security policies as an “America containment policy.”
Both neoconservative “foreign military intervention” and Obama’s “America containment” are problematic.
Over the past twenty years, the United States has lost sight of realism—maintaining the balance of power across regions to deter conflict.
That is precisely why the Trump camp seeks to return to balance-of-power diplomacy.
When read in this context, the following article should make it clear that the Trump administration’s security policy is thoroughly sound.
Omitted.