U.S. Policy toward the Indo-Pacific

The article presents a narrative of the evolution of the central aspects of the strategies "Pivot to Asia", Rebalance and finally of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific, implemented or in the course of implementation during the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, trying to explain their flawed designs, changes, contradictions, difficulties of putting into practice and results. The article argues that the two administrations of president Barack Obama, especially the second, did not take properly into account all the elements of the US power, allowing the brake up of the statu quo existing in Asia since the end of the Cold War, and not addressing appropriately China's trade imbalance, its irregular practises, restrictions and its economic challenge. Once the statu quo was broken, the new strategy that president Donald Trump is trying to implement also suffers from important constraints.