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US not disengaging from Asia, seeks 'partners, not protectorates': Pentagon official
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In a speech in Manila on August 10, 2026, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby reaffirmed the United States' commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, stating that the US is 'digging in' to maintain a favorable balance of power, not disengaging. He emphasized a strategy of 'deterrence by denial' along the First Island Chain, which stretches from Japan to Borneo. Colby called on allies and partners to invest more in their own defense and take greater responsibility for their security, framing this as a shift toward 'partners, not protectorates.' He argued that strong partners enhance deterrence. The trip includes stops in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia, and aims to counter concerns about Washington's reliability as a security partner in Asia.
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The United States is not disengaging from Asia and is instead “digging in” to maintain a favorable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, but wants its partners to shoulder more responsibility for their own defense, a senior Pentagon official said on Monday.
Elbridge Colby, undersecretary of Defense for Policy, sought to counter concerns about Washington’s reliability as he reiterated U.S. interest in the region and called for greater burden-sharing and “partnership, not dependency.”
“America is definitely not disengaging from Asia,” Colby said in a speech in Manila. “We are not leaving; in fact, we are digging in, to ensure a favourable balance of power where it matters most.”
The Philippines, the United States’ oldest treaty ally in Asia, is the first stop on a Southeast Asian trip that will also take Colby to Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia.
Colby said maintaining a favorable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific required a “posture of deterrence by denial along the First Island Chain” and pointed to what he described as a growing U.S. military commitment in the region. The First Island Chain refers to an area stretching from Japan down to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo.
The strategy could not rest on American forces alone, he said, arguing that allies should invest more in their security.
“When we ask our allies and partners to step up, to invest more in their own defense, and to take responsibility for their own sovereign security, we are not signaling abandonment,” Colby said. “We are looking for partners, not protectorates.”
“When our partners are strong, deterrence is strong,” he added.
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US Reaffirms Indo-Pacific Commitment, Urges Allies to Share Defense Burden