Singapore, May 30 -- US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth struck a notably transactional tone at the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, laying out a sweeping Indo-Pacific strategy that places burden-sharing at its centre and explicitly rules out American dominance or any other country's over the region.
Addressing a room packed with defence ministers and military chiefs from across the Asia-Pacific, Hegseth, on his fourth official visit to the region since taking office, outlined a revised National Defense Strategy that marks a clear departure from the post-Cold War model of US security guarantees.
"We are charting a new course for our alliances and partnerships: one that is grounded in the realities of power and interests. It is a course ...