Can Defense Export Control Reform Save the Pacific Pivot?

Do current rules and regulations for sharing defense technology with our allies limit America’s strategic options in the Pacific Rim? China’s increasingly aggressive activities in the Western Pacific raise serious questions about how America’s strategic “rebalance” toward Asia can be sustained during a time of strained defense budgets and uncertain or conflicting diplomatic priorities. Might specific reforms of the existing U.S. arms export control regime help ease these problems – and provide America’s East Asian treaty partners with a counterweight necessary to keep “rebalance” on track?

On July 14th, Hudson Institute hosted a panel discussion with three leading experts – Brandt Pasco, former member of President Obama’s Export Control Reform Initiative; Christopher Wall, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration; and Hudson Senior Fellow Arthur Herman – on proposed initiatives to ease and streamline arms export rules for rapidly evolving defense technologies in order to deter aggression, enhance regional security, and encourage joint development and cooperation with America’s high-tech Asian allies. Ado Machida, president of the International Stability Operations Association, moderated the conversation.