Countries seeking Category C assistance must notify the WTO of their request. To date, Georgia is the only country in the footprint to make a Category C request. The United States should encourage more to make that request to jumpstart development capacity.
English as the Operating Language
English is the lingua franca across the globe. But given the growth of other languages, the United States should focus on ensuring that English remains the standard across the reconnecting Asia footprint. It is by far the most studied language, with 1.5 billion learners worldwide, followed by French at 82 million. Chinese, however, at 1.39 billion, has the most native speakers. That is over two times the number of English speakers.
English as the underlying language of business and government across the globe is advantageous to the United States. Even right next to China, English is the working language of a series of organizations across ASEAN, APEC, and the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Using a common language helps to clarify contract language, responsibility, and dispute resolution. Since English is already the operating and working language in most economies and countries, the United States should continue to push for its usage.
The Dollar as the Working Currency across the Reconnecting Asia Footprint
It is in the U.S. interest for the U.S. dollar to be the operating currency across the reconnecting Asia footprint. The currency remains the global standard and reserve currency. Even the AIIB lends in dollars. The reconnecting of Asia, however, could weaken the dollar’s primacy if the renminbi becomes a convertible currency. Then the AIIB could stop denominating in dollars, and access for U.S. firms would become more complex. At the moment, however, there is no currency that can replace the dollar.
Allied Partnership
The above plans require partnership among U.S. allies. The United States has deep bilateral ties with Japan, constructive trilateral ties between Japan and South Korea, and a strategic dialogue with India. The sheer number of U.S. allies and institutions already operating in the region is an advantage for the United States. The United States should be looking at the phenomenon together with these partners and allies. This will be a new permanent lens through which the United States and its allies need to think about how the world is evolving. South Korea and Japan, however, have different approaches to the reconnecting of Asia that will need to be reconciled. The United States can play a role in getting a variety of these partners on the same page about how to reconnect Asia.
Conclusion
Asia is in the process of reconnecting. Although this process will be incremental over 20 to 30 years, it would be a mistake for the United States to ignore this massive global change. The United States and its allies have an important role in shaping how Asia reconnects through soft infrastructure. Across the trade and development relationships examined, the United States has the deepest economic engagement ties (see chart below) with Mongolia, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The lowest number of U.S. ties are with North Korea, Iran, Bhutan, and Slovenia. It is interesting to note that Iran, given its strategic geography, has the most projects in the reconnecting Asia footprint.