Since the 1950s, the United States' post-war military presence in the Asia-Pacific or East Asian region has been anchored principally on its bilateral and separate defence alliances with Japan and Australia.

The architectural anchorages have not changed even though the Cold War in Asia was transformed from bi-polarity to tri-polarity in the 1970s and the Soviet Union has been defunct since 1991.

However, according to recent reports, Japan and Australia have agreed to conclude a bilateral defence treaty next month which will allow their troops to be 'trained' in one another's territory.