Overview

Through a series of statements and reports, the Trump Administration has outlined a goal to promote a "free and open Indo-Pacific" region (FOIP) which also seeks to integrate U.S. strategy toward East Asia and South Asia, two regions that have often been addressed in relative isolation. It is unclear how the FOIP concept relates to these initiatives. Secondly, it is in our interest, the U.S. interest, as well as the interests of the region, that India play an increasingly weighty role in the region. It is a democracy. Strategic Context

Strategic dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region are undergoing significant change. Among the challenges the Administration may be responding to in developing the FOIP are:
the growth of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), under which Beijing pledges to finance infrastructure development across the region, and which many analysts argue would strengthen China both geopolitically and economically, at the expense of the United States, and give China leverage with investment recipients;
China's continued military modernization, and its militarization of the artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea, which many analysts argue has altered the strategic landscape of East Asia;
the expansion of China's naval activities in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and strategic mistrust between China and India;
China's continued growth as a trade, lending, and investment partner for many in the region, which some analysts fear will give Beijing greater leverage over neighbors in both East Asia and South Asia;
concerns across the Indo-Pacific about the sustainability of U.S. commitment to the region, given U.S. strategic commitments in other regions and budgetary constraints facing both military spending and overall foreign assistance; 
the Trump Administration's decision to withdraw the United States from the proposed 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement (TPP) in January 2017, which has contributed to regional perceptions that the United States may lack an overall economic strategy toward the region; and
the prospect that China is challenging Western liberal democratic values and the United States' network of alliances and strategic relationships in the Indo-Pacific. Beyond the National Security Strategy (NSS) and the National Defense Strategy (NDS), Trump Administration officials have sought to articulate the Indo-Pacific strategy in numerous statements including Secretary of State Pompeo's economic and security cooperation initiatives announced in July and August 2018. Critiques of the FOIP Strategy

While the Trump Administration's Free and Open Indo-Pacific initiative has been viewed by some observers as seeking to reshape America's strategic approach to the region and manage China's rise, one source takes the view that "allies and adversaries alike are left wondering if the United States really has the will and resources to make it happen" adding that: 
While the region welcomes the aspirations of the Indo-Pacific strategy as a sign of broader strategy and regional engagement, the challenge right now is that it's just aspirational—a set of goals with no real strategy, policy enumeration or implantation plan, let alone resourcing and budget. Others argue that the initial set of FOIP related initiatives are relatively small in scope. Others point to problems in messaging related to the FOIP concept. Some analysts argue that regional states tend to underestimate the value and importance of U.S. economic engagement with the region when it is compared with Belt and Road Initiatives by China because U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) is largely not state-led. The FOIP concept's emphasis on India, Japan, and Australia has led some to question where this leaves the concept of ASEAN centrality in America's strategy towards the region. Does it have such a strategy for implementing the Quad concept? To what extent does the FOIP initiative subsume other Administration initiatives? State Department staffing. Economic elements of the initiative . U.S. arms sales. U.S. foreign assistance. What implications does the Indo-Pacific strategy have for the scale or allocation of U.S. foreign assistance funding to the region? Appendix A.
The Trump Administration has outlined a goal of promoting a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP), seeking to articulate U.S. strategy towards an expanded Indo-Asia-Pacific region at a time when China's presence across the region is growing. The FOIP initiative is identified through a number of statements by the President and senior Administration officials. Insight into the initiative's context and perspective is also offered by the Administration's National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy. The FOIP concept represents a significant change in U.S. strategic thinking towards the region because of its explicit linkage of South Asia and the Indian Ocean region with the Asia-Pacific region. The FOIP also emphasizes maritime issues. While recent statements by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have provided a more detailed understanding of the strategy, uncertainty remains over the specifics of the initiative.
Some critics of the initiative wonder if the United States has the vision, political will, or economic resources necessary to implement a FOIP strategy effectively. Some observers have pointed to inconsistencies with other Trump Administration initiatives toward the region, and to the lack of detail necessary to operationalize the concept. Some also argue that the economic aspects of the initiative are relatively small when compared to either China's lending, including under its Belt and Road Initiative, or the region's infrastructure investment needs. Another often-expressed concern is that the FOIP's initial emphasis on the "Quad" with Australia, India, and Japan raises concerns that it risks eroding U.S. influence in Southeast Asia by not sufficiently incorporating that sub-region's leading international body, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, into U.S. strategy toward the region.
Regional perceptions of the United States' commitment to the region were shaken by the Trump Administration's decision to withdraw from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement in 2017. This decision also led to perceptions that the United States lacked an integrated regional strategy despite the region's economic importance to the United States. According to the State Department, two-way trade between the United States and the Indo-Pacific is $1.4 trillion and U.S foreign direct investment in the region is $860 billion a year.
The FOIP initiative may raise questions for Congress related to its oversight and appropriations roles:
Does the initiative fully account for the strategic and economic environment in the Indo-Pacific, including implications related to but going beyond the rise of China and its Belt and Road Initiative? Does the initiative correctly identify and adequately secure U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific region? Does it place proper emphasis on developing diplomatic approaches and economic institutions as well as military responses when crafting a strategic vision for the region? Are U.S. Indo-Pacific military forces properly deployed to secure U.S. interests? Is future defense procurement adequately funded to secure U.S. interests? Is the value to the United States of working with friends and allies in the region properly understood and are these alliance and defense relationships being properly managed in order to leverage U.S. strategic posture in the region? Are American values properly taken into account in developing a FOIP strategy?