Popular Mechanics:
The world’s largest (and longest-running) multinational naval exercise began its 2018 edition yesterday, June 27, in Hawaii and southern California. The 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises, hosted by the United States military, is drawing visitors from 25 countries across Asia and the Pacific. But one previous attendee is noticeably absent from this year’s war games: China.
The United States began hosting RIMPAC in 1971 as a means of assuring allies that the U.S. withdraw from Vietnam did not preclude a larger withdraw from Asia. The exercise is held every two years and this year includes: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam. The RIMPAC exercise has become destination even for countries outside the Pacific Rim region, with Brazil, Israel, Germany, and the Netherlands joining in.
