IN RECENT DAYS, the Bush administration has taken three small steps to shore up America's position in East Asia. While important, these steps are not enough in themselves to stave off our long-term decline in the Pacific. Rather, they should serve as the first salvos in a full-fledged redefinition of our interests and role in the world's most important region.

The Cause of Decline: Losing Focus

Blame for America's decline in Asia cannot be laid solely on the Bush administration, despite the Iraq War's draining attention and resources away from the region. Much of the rationale for America's Asian policies disappeared with the end of the Cold War. While we became paramount in the region after 1945, our policies were informed by an ideology of protecting democracy and deterring threats to peaceful development. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, however, rather than attempting to shape the region's future, Washington's default goals became expanding trade and maintaining stability in the Pacific. Misguided assumptions by the Clinton administration that China was a "strategic partner" further muddied our policies and understanding of how the region was evolving. By assuming the position of a status quo power, we stood for nothing and became defensive in our response to Asia's economic and political waves.

At the same time, hundreds of American bureaucrats and officials continue to race full speed to keep up with the myriad meetings, summits, agreements, treaties, and problems that absorb us in Asia. Despite this, State Department officials in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs will acknowledge off the record that we are seen as disengaged, particularly at the top levels of government. In short, we have lost ground not because we're absent from the region, but rather because we have become unfocused and lacking in vision. Leadership is a fickle property, and once it begins to slip away, it is hard to recapture. Thus, Washington's recent small steps are helpful, but America must offer a compelling vision of the future of the Asia Pacific region and take the lead in building it.

Small Step No. 1: Redefining and shaping the Asian security environment. During April's summit with the new, pro-American President of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, President Bush is reported to have discussed a joint regional security "entity" with Japan and Korea. This new trilateral approach should be at the top of the White House's agenda, as it can be the first step towards a larger alignment of democratic nations in the region. It was a mistake for Washington to ignore former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's call for a quadrilateral linkage of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. President Lee is giving Washington a second chance to show that like-minded liberal nations have a natural community of interests that can engage all neighboring nations and positively shape regional affairs.