Pete Hegseth, the American defence secretary, has issued a stern warning to Asia’s allies: boost your defence budgets or risk being left behind. This is not a novel demand. It is the same tired refrain that has echoed through NATO corridors for decades, now repackaged for the Pacific theatre. The United States, ever the imperial power, wants its vassals to pay for their own subjugation. Meanwhile, the UK, clinging to the wreckage of its post-Brexit relevance, mutters pious affirmations of loyalty to the Five Eyes intelligence alliance. One can almost hear the ghost of Kipling sighing.
Let us be clear: the Five Eyes is a relic of a bygone era, a cold-war comfort blanket that has outlived its usefulness. The UK’s reaffirmation of its commitment is a desperate attempt to remain at the grown-ups’ table, but the grown-ups are now squabbling over scraps in the South China Sea. Hegseth’s warning is not a strategic imperative; it is a symptom of American decline. When the hegemon must publicly browbeat its dependents, you know the empire is cracking.
Consider the historical parallels. The late Roman Empire issued similar ultimatums to its federated allies: raise more troops, pay more tribute, or face the barbarians alone. Did that end well? The barbarians came anyway. Today, the barbarians are not hordes from the steppes but a rising China with a navy and a chip on its shoulder. The difference is that Rome’s federates eventually realised they could cut their own deals with the enemy. Hegseth’s allies are not deaf; they are calculating.
As for the UK, its reaffirmation of the Five Eyes is a pathetic display of sycophancy. The alliance was always a club for Anglophone powers to share secrets and spy on the rest of the world. Now it is a fig leaf for British irrelevance. The British establishment cannot bear to admit that the sun has set on their empire, so they cling to any totem of influence. But intelligence alliances do not make a nation great. They make it a watchman for a declining superpower.
The real question is why any Asian ally would take Hegseth seriously. Japan and South Korea already host American bases and pay huge subsidies. Australia is a willing client. But Hegseth wants more. He wants blood and treasure poured into a vision that is increasingly unpalatable at home. The American public is tired of foreign wars, and yet here is Hegseth, beating the drum for a new Pacific pax Americana. It is intellectual decadence of the highest order.
I say let the allies boost their defence. Let them spend themselves into debt on American weaponry. The irony is that the more they spend, the more dependent they become on the very power that lectures them. It is a vicious cycle that only benefits the military-industrial complex. Meanwhile, the Five Eyes will continue to share intelligence like a book club that no one has read.
The fall of Rome was not sudden. It was a slow rot fed by overreach and hollow alliances. Hegseth’s warning is just another nail in the coffin of American hegemony. The UK’s reaffirmation is a dirge for its own relevance. And the rest of us watch, popcorn in hand, as the empire crumbles. The only question is who will write the history.
