Aloha! It’s an honor to join such a distinguished and global gathering of military and civilian scholars.

I know most of you have traveled great distances to be here, and I appreciate your commitment. Please thank your families for me as well!

This center was founded to be a place where leaders can discuss the vital issues of the day, build on areas of common interest, and generate common solutions.

Solutions require the free exchange of ideas, from many voices, with a shared responsibility to get things done.

That is the spirit I will bring to Oceania later this week, as I meet with our partners and allies throughout the region.

 

We will have direct conversations and we will likely not agree on everything.

But I am confident that we will continue to agree that cooperation and principles must always stand above aggression and isolation.

Unfortunately, not all nations share that view.

From the East China Sea, to the Arctic, to the Black Sea, authoritarian states are violating the territorial and economic sovereignty of other nations.

Russia’s bloody and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine threatens to upend the post-Cold War stability of all of Europe, and has disrupted the global economy.

Meanwhile, Beijing is amassing its economic, military, and diplomatic power to mount a sustained challenge to a stable and open international system.

These activities seek to reshape the international order to align with its authoritarian, un-democratic systems and national interests.

The United States believes every nation has a right to defend its interests.

Every nation has a right to build, exercise, and operate military forces to protect legitimate national security interests.

Every nation has the right to promote the prosperity, opportunity and innovative capabilities of its own people.

And every nation has the right to navigate the sea lanes and the skies in accordance with international law.

But no nation has the right to deny the same freedom to its peaceful neighbors.

No nation has the right to claim longstanding international waters as its own.

No nation has the right to engage in illegal fishing and resource extraction in the waters of other nations.

And no nation has the right to sponsor cybercrime and intellectual property theft.

Our hand will always be extended to any nation willing to support and defend the rules based international order we all depend on.

We stand prepared to protect those norms whenever and wherever there is a need to do so.

We will stand by our allies and partners in defending their sovereign rights – especially those democratic governments that are most threatened today.

The United States Navy and Marine Corps Team is proud to play a vital role in this mission, guided by the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States.

President Biden’s strategy for this critical region is straightforward and clear.

As he stated at the East Asia Summit in the fall, “We envision an Indo-Pacific that is open, connected, prosperous, resilient, and secure.”

Most importantly, he added, “We are ready to work together with each of you to achieve it.”

Our Indo-Pacific Strategy is a firm commitment to restore American leadership and the leadership of others in the region, and to work in full cooperation with our partners and allies.

Leadership and cooperation are not exclusive – in fact they go hand-in-hand.

That’s why the United States Navy and Marine Corps is committed to working together with all of our allies and partners to achieve the goals of the Indo-Pacific strategy.

The first goal is preserving an Indo-Pacific that is free and open.

Free and open means that governments have the right to make their own decisions and control their own territory without external coercion.

It also means that common domains like the sea lanes are protected and free, to enable the prosperity and unity of all nations.

We will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere that international law allows.

And we are campaigning forward to ensure that right remains open for all nations through key maritime regions like the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca, and the Strait of Hormuz.

We seek your best ideas and common commitment to protect the rules-based international order against incursions like illegal, unregulated, or unreported fishing.

And we look to deepen our alliances, partnerships, and the interoperability of like-minded naval forces, united by common values and common interests.

Which relates to the next goal of the strategy – to promote an Indo-Pacific that is truly interconnected.

Connections come in many forms, from trade, to integrated supply chains, to the people-to-people connections exemplified by you in this class today.

One of my chief interests is strengthening the security connections between our nations.

That includes contributing to the strength and viability of multinational organizations like ASEAN.

It also means deepening our security relationship through multilateral connections like the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, linking India, Japan, Australia, and the United States.

It means looking at the interests of large ocean nations in Oceania and understanding what security means to them.

And it means promoting greater connections at the ship and unit level, through multilateral exercises like RIMPAC 22, which will kick off here in Hawaii later this month, truly harnessing the power of our alliances and partnerships across the region.

This biennial exercise tests interoperability under grueling battle conditions, identifies innovative uses for our platforms, and discovers areas where we need to improve - together.

RIMPAC will include anti-submarine warfare exercises, amphibious operations, humanitarian assistance training, missile shots, ground force drills and other elements that fortify collective readiness.

Most importantly, it will give our Sailors and Marines the opportunity to work alongside their counterparts from 26 other Nations.

There is no substitute for the shared experiences of allies and partners working together to deter our adversaries and protect our world.

These security relationships and shared experiences provide a strong platform for the next priority of the strategy, which is to promote an Indo-Pacific that is indeed  prosperous for all nations.

The prosperity of the Indo-Pacific, and indeed of the world, is inextricably tied to the sea.

Nearly 90 percent of the world’s international trade is carried on the ocean – with one third of that passing through the South China Sea.

Over 400 undersea fiber optic cables carry 97 percent of the world’s international communications today.

Many of you are probably using these cables when you communicate with your loved ones back home!

Without a ready and capable network of allies and partners protecting the sea lanes and lines of communications, the global economy could easily shudder to a halt.

The United States Navy and Marine Corps are proud to play a central role in the protection of those sea lanes, and the global commerce that they enable.

That brings us to the fifth goal of the strategy: An Indo Pacific that is more secure for all nations.

Alongside our allies and partners, we are building the maritime capability required to deter aggression, and protect the stability and prosperity of the Indo Pacific.

This vast region requires a distributed fleet, capable of communicating and operating as one at extreme distances, and delivering long range fires when necessary.

At the same time, the many littoral regions and shorelines within potentially contested areas require an agile and expeditionary Fleet Marine force.

And 80 years after the Battle of Midway, naval aviation is as important as ever in the Indo Pacific.

New platforms and capabilities are transforming our force, and bolstering our alliances in ways we couldn’t have imagined just a decade ago. 

When I visited Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan, I saw aviators and crews working alongside their Japanese counterparts to use the F-35B to strengthen our integrated deterrence.

They can even land on a Japanese ship, the converted Destroyer IZUMO, a clear demonstration of the growing interoperability of our allied and partnered force in the region.

Last year, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 deployed aboard HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, the new flagship of the Royal Navy.

For seven months, our Marine Aviators operated ten F-35Bs seamlessly alongside eight others flown by the Royal Air Force, as US ships like USS THE SULLIVANS provided strike group support.

Along the way they operated alongside allies and partners including Australia, France, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and many others.

That is a level of unity and strength neither China nor Russia could ever hope to achieve.

Because unlike Moscow and Beijing, we don’t treat allies and partners like client states or satellites. We respect them as true partners, leaders, and friends.

Each nation brings their own experiences, capabilities, and skills that help protect our mutual interests.

Respect and cooperation, at every level, has never been more important than it is today.

And that’s why this center, this course, and most importantly, this distinguished class, has never been more important.

We need your best ideas, and your most pointed concerns, so that we can work together to confront the many challenges of the global security environment.

That is particularly true of the final goal of the strategy, which is to create an Indo Pacific that is more resilient.

I know that climate change is at the forefront of concerns for many of you, as it is for me.

From Nepal, to Egypt, to the Republic of Palau, to the United States, we feel the rapid temperature changes, see the dislocation of people, and experience greater extremes in the weather.

We recognize our responsibility to both lead and cooperate.

Under President Biden and Secretary Austin’s leadership, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps – and the entire U.S. government – is moving quickly to dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps recently released Climate Action 2030, our in-depth, multi-pronged approach to address the climate crisis. One of the core aspects of this strategy is to develop strong partnerships around the world to develop and pursue ideas that will help reduce the climate threat and build resilience.

The Office of Naval Research’s Asia Pacific Technology and Education Partnership works directly with regional universities, utilities, and governments to trade information and solutions.

And partnerships go beyond research and information sharing. We are taking concrete steps to help our partners build resilience against the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

For instance, the Navy Construction Battalion – better known as the SEABEES – addressed drought issues in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, fixing water distribution maintenance problems and providing residential water purification techniques.

And we are reducing our own impact and emissions as a force. The Marine Corps, for instance, just announced our first Net Zero Energy installation.

That means the installation produces as much – or even more – energy than it consumes. That, of course, supports our climate efforts.

But it also makes that base more resilient in the face of natural disasters or power disruptions.

It creates massive cost savings, and allows us to adopt more advanced technology.

We can use these same technologies in the maritime domain. Hybrid propulsion systems can give our ships greater range between refueling.

Task Force 59 is looking at just this kind of technology, to include experimentation with the Saildrone Explorer USV, which utilizes solar and wind energy for operation.

Forward-deployed renewable energy sources can dramatically increase the mission length of the unmanned assets we need to monitor threats at sea.

Such tools can improve our multi-domain awareness, enabling us to quickly address challenges from illegal and unauthorized fishing, to piracy, to violations of territorial waters.

But we need more ideas. We need additional ways to help build resiliency, and respond to disasters, across the region and around the world.

So be bold with your ideas, and direct with your questions.

As Secretary of State Tony Blinken said, “The United States recognizes that much of our planet’s future will be written in the Indo-Pacific.”

And that future can be written in this room, through the dedicated effort and cooperation of leaders like yourselves.

So let’s work together to ensure a free and open, interconnected, prosperous, secure, and resilient Indo Pacific region.

There is no limit to what we can achieve when we work together, and when every voice is valued.

Because if this important center teaches us anything, it is the importance of communication.

Listening. Sharing. Working together to build a safer, more secure, and better world together.

I am honored to join you in that effort.

So thank you once again for being here, and for all that you and your families do for the people of your nations, and the people of the world. Thank you.