UKRAINE CRISIS AND IMPLICATION ON US INVOLVEMENT IN

INDO-PACIFIC

On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to launch a ‘special
military operation’ to demilitarize and de-Nazify the Ukrainian region. The Russian invasion of
Ukraine is more strategic as Ukraine serves as a buffer zone between Russia and NATO
militaries and is therefore crucial for Russia’s national interest. President Putin has repeatedly
warned the Western powers and NATO not to interfere in Russia’s internal affairs and leave
Ukraine out of western influence. In this context, the West has united to support the Ukrainian
forces in their defense from the Russian attacks. In a show of unity for Ukraine, the West gave
the Ukrainian military humanitarian aid, weapons, and training. The biggest weapon the western
countries have used is the sanctions as the US, European Union, the UK, Canada, and Japan
joined hands and imposed sanctions against Russia to cripple its economy.
The US is heavily invested in the Ukrainian crisis as it is a test for the US hegemonic capability
and NATO’s relevance. The US cannot back away from Ukraine as continental Europe still
depends on the US and NATO for its defense and security. Therefore, in this context, many have
called US’s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis a distraction from its Indo-Pacific strategy as the
US is yet again captured in European affairs. The article attempts to analyze the implications of
US involvement in the Ukrainian crisis and its implication for its Indo-Pacific Strategy.

US INDO-PACIFIC STRATEGY
According to the US official documents, the Indo-Pacific is a region that stretches from the
Pacific Ocean to the Western Indian Ocean. In his address to the Australian Parliament in 2012,
Obama reiterated that the US was a Pacific power and was here to stay. The term Indo-Pacific is
of recent origin as it was previously called the Asia-Pacific; however, the US has replaced it with
Indo-Pacific to mark an essential partner in the region due to its enhanced strategic partnership
with India. US’s Indo-Pacific strategy highlights that it is necessary to have a free and open
Indo-Pacific without the dominance of any particular country in the economic and strategic
realm. Therefore, the Indo-Pacific region has emerged as a significant point of contestation
between the US and China. In the next two decades, the region will be a flashpoint of
geopolitical confrontations for great power status. The US has formulated an Indo-Pacific
strategy that fosters economic and strategic relations with the region’s developing economies.
The US engagement with the region is both geostrategic and geoeconomic as it is a part of the
QUAD initiative and a founding member of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for
Prosperity (IPEF). The US has rallied like-minded countries’ support to counter China’s
dominance and aggressive regional policies. Through its IPEF initiative, the US aims to establish
and set the standards for promoting a rules-based order. The initiative is particularly of interest to
the Indo-Pacific economies because of its clause of diversifying and making resilient supply
chain mechanisms independent of China.
IMPLICATION OF US INVOLVEMENT IN UKRAINIAN CRISIS
Many have labeled the involvement of the US in the Ukrainian crisis as a distraction from its
Indo-Pacific strategy. As a major country of the NATO alliance, the US is heavily involved in
the recent Russia-Ukraine war as the US must safeguard the democratic values and sovereignty
of the countries from aggressors. However, the Asian leaders have had their dilemmas over the
US shift towards European affairs, leaving behind the Indo-Pacific region. The US has long been
embroiled in European affairs since World War II and has only recently focused on the Indo-
Pacific region because of the rise of the Chinese threat.
The Southeast Asian nations have voiced their dilemma by questioning the extensive
involvement of the US in European affairs because a similar threat is looming over the Asian
nations because of China’s ambitious territorial expansionism. In this context, the US should
enhance its cooperation with friendly countries and design strategies to diversify the supply
chain mechanism to make the global cycle more China-independent. The US’s focus on
establishing and promoting digital infrastructure, clean energy, and resilient supply chains
emanates from the idea of making the regional economies less reliant on China.
The newly formulated Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity has been termed an
‘economic NATO’ tactic to decouple the Chinese economy from that of Asia. The US
involvement in the Ukraine crisis and its response by imposing sanctions on Russia has brought
China and Russia into a closer partnership. Both see the US as a hegemonic power trying to
influence countries in their region of influence. The US involvement has severe ramifications for
the Indo-Pacific as it heightens the possibility of Russia and China joining hands to prevent the
development of the Indo-Pacific region in collaboration with the US.
Moreover, the US involvement has sparked the debate of taking sides in the conflict, which the
Indo-Pacific countries cannot do because of their historical and strategic relationship with
Russia, such as India.
Therefore the Russia-Ukraine war is a precursor to a more geopolitically driven competition in
the Indo-Pacific as many countries are involved in attaining a position of influence. The current
situation demands an informed US policy for the Indo-Pacific region and attention towards daily
developments as countries put their economic interests at a higher place. The biggest lesson for
the US from the Ukraine crisis that can be applied in the Indo-Pacific is that it should focus on
fostering partnerships across countries as China requires a unified response for its aggressive
policies. In addition, the US needs to pace the geopolitical competition and offer incentives to its
regional allies for a better partnership.
The implications of the Ukraine crisis are loud and clear in the Indo-Pacific region as the US has
bolstered its alliance partnership with the countries and has started regularly meeting the leaders
to stay in sync with policy developments.

CONCLUSION
The Ukraine crisis demanded an immediate response from the US and other western powers to
safeguard Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. However, the crisis corresponded with
the US’s shifting focus toward the Indo-Pacific region as it is a potential flashpoint for future
geopolitical confrontation. Ukraine has severe implications for the US Indo-Pacific strategy as it
poses a reminder for the US to enhance its cooperation with the regional economies in light of a
possible Chinese threat. The US’s strategy to strategically and economically engage the countries
is particularly significant as it impels the regional development of infrastructure and domestic
production.
The Ukraine crisis is termed as a distraction for the US from its Indo-pacific commitments;
however, this is not the case, as President Biden has convened meetings with the regional leaders
on many occasions and discussed the issues related to economic and defense engagement. The
recently held QUAD summit and the inauguration ceremony of the IPEF signify that the US is
committed to safeguarding the interests of the Indo-Pacific region as it is determined to
safeguard the territorial integrity of Ukraine from Russian invasion. The Ukraine crisis and the
subsequent involvement of the US in its initiative to secure the country and its citizens point to
the fact that the Indo-Pacific countries are indeed right in engaging with the US as the Chinese
threat over them looms more significant every day. The US’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific
region is driven by China’s aggressive policies and the need to balance excessive Chinese
investments. The Ukraine crisis mirrors the US’s Indo-pacific strategy as it readies itself to face
an even more aggressive and strategically stable China. The US must strengthen its alliances in
the Indo-Pacific region as the countries are skeptical of engaging in a geopolitical conflict. For
them, China presents economic initiatives, whereas the US has a position of providing security to
the Indo-Pacific region.

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