Pacific Century

[1] The prediction that the Pacific would transcend the Atlantic as a "center of gravity of world commerce" has been credited to Marx and Engels.

[8] The 1989 formation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum was seen as a significant turning point for the Pacific Rim towards a post–Cold War era,[6] while by 1991, America's transpacific trade had become 1/3rd greater than its transatlantic trade.

[9] A consensus began to emerge that Asia would form a significant part of the future and no longer be economically outpaced by America, especially after the 2007–2008 financial crisis and Great Recession.

[10] In 2011, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the beginning of "America's Pacific Century" under the ambit of a broader shift in American foreign policy known as the Pivot to Asia.

Over time, the concept of a Pacific Century has become intertwined with various developments in the broader neighborhood of Asia and the Indo-Pacific, such as the desire of some Indo-Pacific countries to contain China;[11] America has a history of working against other powers achieving regional dominance in the Pacific stretching back to the 19th century, and so tensions between America and China for dominance in the region have become increasingly relevant.