The Rise Of The Middle Powers -- Bruce Gilley, New York Times
THE biggest news to emerge from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit to Asia last week came at a news conference with the Indonesian foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa. Mrs. Clinton acknowledged that Washington accepts Jakarta’s “leadership” in resolving the territorial disputes over the South China Sea — disputes that have led to bellicose rhetoric from China, Vietnam and the Philippines in recent months. A State Department official later told reporters that, in Washington’s view, “the leading state in the effort is clearly Indonesia.”
But Mr. Natalegawa emphasized that this leadership role “is not meant to be at the expense of any other party. It’s not about us rallying around to counter or to put any other country on the spot or to put them in a corner.”
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My Comment: The "middle powers" are stepping up because the big powers are stepping down. In this vacuum many of these nations are now stepping in with a focus on their own regional issues .... and making decisions independent of what the big powers may prefer. I predict that this trend will continue .... until this rigional "middle powers" start quarreling among themselves.
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