India, April 13 -- In 2011, President Barack Obama declared it was time for America to leave behind the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and "pivot" to Asia to counter the rise of China. Fifteen years later, the US finds itself still at war in the Middle East and has pulled military assets from the Asia-Pacific as it aims to eliminate the threat posed by Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.

The demands of the Iran war also caused President Donald Trump to delay by several weeks his highly anticipated trip to China, deepening worries that the US is once again getting distracted at the cost of its strategic interests in Asia, where Beijing seeks to unseat the US as the regional leader.

Those skeptical of the US involvement in the Middle Eas...