Authors : DHRUVA JAISHANKAR | AMMAR NAINAR | DAVID VALLANCE
Published on: Feb 16, 2026
China is undertaking a rapid expansion and modernization of its People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and is adopting a more assertive military posture, with implications for the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. The United States is urging allies and partners to burden-share, including through contributing to crisis scenarios, improving their self-defense, and supporting regional security missions. This report assesses the capabilities and posture of 14 maritime powers in the Indo-Pacific and concludes that most U.S. allies and partners are already contributing more to their self-defense; that the Quad countries and France are contributing disproportionately to regional security missions; but that no Indo-Pacific power has the capabilities to substitute for the United States in a Taiwan-related military scenario.
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