It¡¯s increasingly difficult to make sense of U.S. foreign policy.

It¡¯s not unusual for there to be a divergence between strategy and statements, or official statements and actions, but rarely has the gap been as wide as it is today.

The purported U.S. ¡°focus¡± on the Indo-Pacific is especially confusing. A pillar of U.S. foreign policy for over a decade, regional specialists and keen-eyed observers have long challenged the readiness of successive administrations to follow through on that strategy. Those inconsistencies are becoming impossible to cover up, deny or ignore.