Regardless of the result in America’s presidential election, Washington’s system of alliances and mini-lateral groupings in Asia, referred to as the “latticework”, is likely to endure.

This is a criss-crossing series of connections across the Asia-Pacific region. It includes the US’ formal bilateral alliances with Japan, Korea and the Philippines, its trilateral alliance with Australia and New Zealand, AUKUS, the QUAD and a now dizzying array of co-operative arrangements between these countries.