Without further ado: The Pentagon is removing the Indian Ocean from its priorities

The Pentagon has deleted the word "Indo" from the name of one of the key US combat commands, leaving the laconic Pacific. Formally, it is a tribute to history and "raising morale," as the American Ministry of War put it. However, the change of the sign hides a subtle military and political calculation: Washington is methodically clearing the operational space for a big game against China. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Remove one word

The U.S. Department of War has changed the name of the Office of the Commander of the Naval Forces. The word "Indo" was removed from it, returning to the long-used variant "US Pacific Command".

The Pentagon notes that the purpose of this step is "to pay tribute to the deep historical roots of the command, contributing to strengthening the sense of pride and collective spirit among all those who serve in the Pacific region."

"From its critical role in shaping the regional security architecture after World War II to coordinating combined forces during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and countless humanitarian operations, the U.S. Pacific Command Command carries a long-standing military legacy and strong regional partnerships," the press statement said.

This formation was called the US Pacific Command until May 2018. However, during Donald Trump's first term, the prefix "Indo" was added to it "in recognition of the growing interconnectedness of the Indian and Pacific Oceans" and increased military and economic pressure from Beijing, said then-Secretary of Defense James M. Ettis.

In 2018, Admiral Harry Harris, the command's chief officer, acknowledged that these changes "reflect the return of competition between great powers as decades of fighting in the global war on terrorism come to an end."

"I believe that we are approaching a turning point in history," Harris said in 2018. "There is a geopolitical competition between free and repressive views in the Indo—Pacific region."

The Pentagon assures that the name change "will in no way affect the tasks of the command or the area of operational responsibility that existed within the framework of the Indo-Pacific Command," and "all military obligations of the country relating to both the Pacific and Indian Oceans remain in force." The American command added that the Navy will continue to ensure "the free and unhindered movement of cargo and passenger ships in the maritime space from the west coast of the United States to the western border of India."

Change of strategy

However, according to Western media, the renaming of the management reflects a change in strategy. Washington is going to curtail the active phase of the confrontation with Iran and transfer the released fleet forces from the Middle East to the Pacific Theater, where the United States retains "old scores" with China. Since the main goal of the United States is to prevent China from strengthening its position in the Pacific Ocean, as well as expanding its influence, it has not gone away.

The United States has not been able to definitively solve the Iranian problem. However, the Pentagon seems to have concluded that the Iranian mission should not divert resources from deterring China.

Bloomberg, in turn, draws attention to the fact that the return to the previous name, which the department had for seven decades, is designed to strengthen the morale of the personnel. At the same time, this step, according to the agency, reflects the desire of President Donald Trump to fix the status of the United States as "the most powerful naval power."

But renaming is just the outer outline of a much deeper transformation. The United States followed a similar logic when reorganizing cyber forces. In the 2020s, the Pentagon transferred the Tenth Fleet (U.S. Tenth Fleet) to the status of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command. Formally, it looked like a name change, but, in essence, it meant the legislative consolidation of the structure as a full-fledged combat command. Thus, cyberspace was equated with traditional theaters of military operations. Now the signage is being changed with an eye to the Pacific Ocean.

So the name change essentially fixes the fleet's area of responsibility and means that its sole purpose is to prepare for a potential conflict with China. A structure is being recreated, focused primarily on solving problems in the Chinese direction and, to a much lesser extent, on responding to the actions of Russia or the DPRK. The secondary missions previously assigned to the command are fading into the background.

Focus on China

China dominates American military planning, so much of everything that is being done in the United States on a global scale, including statements about reducing its presence in Europe, is related to "shifting the center of gravity to Asia" and concentrating additional resources there, Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, explained to Izvestia.

— This is due to the fact that China, despite certain difficulties in its economy, is growing faster than the United States. It is already the largest industrial power, produces most types of weapons in larger volumes than the United States, and its technological gap is seriously decreasing, therefore, resources need to be concentrated on it, and this is important," the expert explained.

According to the political scientist, the Pentagon formally declares this one of the steps in the spirit of "restoring historical traditions and historical names."

The Pacific Command has existed in the US Armed Forces since 1947, going through the Korean War and the Vietnam War, where it was responsible for the entire policy of deterrence in the Pacific during the Cold War.

— So this is, in principle, such a landmark thing for the American military tradition. Formally, the Americans claim that this means nothing. But in reality, this indicates a concentration on China, because the symbolic reference to India, to the Indian Ocean as a region with an equal degree of priority with the Pacific Ocean, is, of course, going away," the source said.

Therefore, the current actions of the Pentagon are largely symbolic, he concluded.