That conceivable lapse of knowledge might have been more forgiveable if Mr. Hegseth had only been able to respond to the next question. The US is a companion to several international categories, including ASEAN, the European Union, and the South American MERCOSUR. It would be useful, but not necessary, for a military secretary to keep up to day on their concerns and account.
Mr. Hegseth’s inability to name a second ASEAN nation was the more severe flub, even though the US has a military alliance that forces it to provide military support in a discord, such as the Philippines and Thailand. These two unresolved issues, combined, refute past assertions made by Mr. Trump’s first leadership that ASEAN is the “geographical center of the Indo-Pacific” for the US.
Was this a blunder on Mr Hegseth’s piece? According to his knowledge of global affairs, he was not chosen for the place of defense director.
By Mr Hegseth’s own entrance, his goal is to reestablish “warrior society” at the Defence Department as a former with “dust on his shoes”. During his opening speech, he did not mention China or the Indo-Pacific again, devoting his time to outlining his vision for a more “lethal” defense. He even made a few comments about how Mr. Trump could resolve the Middle East security issues and ending the Russia-Ukraine war in his responses.