Why the United States should think more about the Roman Empire:

Lessons for the Indo-Pacific

Though America has little resemblance to Rome in values, Rome offers valuable strategic lessons. The Roman hegemonic system offers valuable strategic lessons for the Indo-Pacific and American grand strategy. 

As the United States promotes the rules-based order in the Pacific, it would be wise to look back at Roman alliance systems. In his book “The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire”, Edward N. Luttwak argues that Juleo-Claudian Rome used political coercion to protect the empire, opting to “conserve force” and “use military power indirectly.” Like Rome, America has more than one issue to address. With tensions growing across the globe, it would be wise to look at the economy of force in the Roman hegemonic system. 

America must deter China. Currently, China's gray-zone tactics whittle will in the Indo-Pacific. Between election manipulation, invasive military drills, and floating sea barriers, China challenges the values that allow globalization to flourish. Not only does bolstering deterrence help other actors in the region, it also helps promote U.S. interests. With $ 1.9 trillion of U.S. trade coming through the region in 2019, America must pursue democratic values. 

Rome opted to use the border state's standing armies instead of the legion to protect the outskirts of the empire. This allowed Rome to address more threats to Rome proper. Rather than using American forces in the Indo-Pacific and mere mutual defense treaties, America ought to start more dialogue, cooperation and technology-sharing between democracies here. Though the promise of a returned American threat does help deter China, we can strengthen deterrence by bolstering the individual capabilities of these nations. By enhancing the capabilities of these nationals against a China threat, America can improve its economy of force. 

Current partnerships already contain this idea of integrated deterrence, or building a defense ecosystem. AUKUS, an alliance between the US and UK centered around nuclear-powered submarine acquisition and multi-domain capabilities and intel sharing, is a model of this relation. 

The U.S. ought to pursue partnerships like AUKUS further. This means loosening regulations on arms sales and expanding the Quad. 

Arms sales contain heavy bureaucracy, yielding delays and inefficiency. Regulations like ITAR slow down these crucial sales and endanger the rules-based order. If we reframe how we conduct arms sales, we can better deter a China threat. 

America needs to bolster and expand the Quad. The Quad, a loose grouping of India, Japan, Australia, and the United States, is less of a military alliance than it needs to be. Currently, the Quad focuses on a plethora of issues, such as climate change and supply chain resilience. While important, the Quad ought to take more of a security-aligned axis. Like AUKUS, the Quad should share more military technologies between states. By developing the individual capabilities of these nations, the U.S. can deter China with less of a threat to the American economy of force. Furthermore, expanding the amount of Indo-Pacific democracies in this grouping will help protect them from Chinese gray-zone tactics as well. 

Though Chinese gray-zone tactics will continue, bolstering the defense capabilities of these nations will prove worthwhile. Not only will they be better equipped to deter a China threat, but better technology will also bolster their political will and undermine Chinese compellence. 

By pursuing more integrated deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. can sleep better at night. Like Rome, America must use the alliances and prosperity established in these nations to protect democratic values rather than disperse her forces in a tumultuous world.