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US foreign policy is driven by US corporate interests but often buried by public political theater and daily headlines designed specifically to distract away from the true nature and purpose of US foreign policy objectives.

However, during US Senate and House hearings, there are relatively unfiltered discussions about these policies made public with a fair degree of confidence most Americans will NOT watch them.

I provide a breakdown of one of these hearings (April 21, 2026) focused on encircling, containing, and confronting China within the Asia-Pacific region - contradicting many of the misconceptions created by Western media using the words of US Senators and their witnesses themselves to do so.

References:

NYT - The Separation: Inside the Unraveling U.S.-Ukraine Partnership (Dec. 2025):
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/30/world/europe/ukraine-war-us-russia.html
US DoD - Opening Remarks by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Feb. 2025):
https://www.war.gov/News/Speeches/Speech/Article/4064113/opening-remarks-by-secretary-of-defense-pete-hegseth-at-ukraine-defense-contact/
FT - Iranian tankers bypass US blockade (Apr. 22, 2026):
https://www.ft.com/content/21dff2c7-1e27-4f74-81d8-31dcdbe9188e?syn-25a6b1a6=1
Politico - 5 charts show China’s oil dilemma after US strikes (Mar. 2, 2026):
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/02/iran-us-strikes-china-oil-supply-charts-00806415
Reuters - How China is plugging energy supply gaps left by US-Iran conflict (Apr. 15, 2026):
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/how-china-is-plugging-energy-supply-gaps-left-by-us-iran-conflict-2026-04-14/#:~:text=In%20terms%20of%20crude%20oil,the%20same%20months%20in%202025.
US Senate Committee on Armed Services - Open/Closed: Hearing titleTo receive testimony on the posture of United States Indo-Pacific Command and United States Forces Korea in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2027 and the Future Years Defense Program (April 21, 2026):
https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/to-receive-testimony-on-the-posture-of-united-states-indo-pacific-command-and-united-states-forces-korea-in-review-of-the-defense-authorization-request-for-fiscal-year-2027-and-the-future-years-defense-program
US Senate Committee on Armed Services - Open/Closed: Hearing titleTo receive testimony on the posture of United States Indo-Pacific Command and United States Forces Korea in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2027 and the Future Years Defense Program (April 21, 2026) (on YouTube):
https://www.youtube.com/live/tS35HiTYQkQ?si=jbqLio99Bwi8yJRm
Governor Mike Dunleavy - ASEC 2025: An Introduction to Glenfarne (June 7, 2025):
https://youtu.be/i7ns5PH2W7E?si=pI7ZohNuBgHkFugf
US Office of the Historian - Courses of Action in Vietnam (1965):
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v03/d189
US Office of the Historian - The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902:
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/war
US Naval Institute - Tighten the Belt and Cut the Roads (2024):
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2024/january/tighten-belt-and-cut-roads
Defense Post - Japan Delivers First Domestically Produced Patriot Interceptors to US (2025):
https://thedefensepost.com/2025/11/25/japan-patriot-interceptors-us/
Stars and Stripes - South Korean shipbuilder secures deal to maintain US Navy dry cargo vessel (Dec. 2025):
https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2025-12-16/navy-ship-maintenance-repair-korea-20108164.html
RAND Corporation - Extending Russia (2019):
https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR3000/RR3063/RAND_RR3063.pdf
Guardian - The great energy pivot: US oil and Chinese solar are the winners in Trump’s war on Iran (Apr. 26, 2026):
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/apr/26/more-than-oil-prices-iran-war-threatens-to-reshape-global-energy-order
The Edge Malaysia - Vietnam gas major looks to US as Iran war reorders LPG flows (Apr. 28, 2026):
https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/801515

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