It would be going too far to describe Donald Rumsfeld as chastened by recent events, but the US defence secretary was more than usually mild in his rhetoric and accommodating in his policy pronouncements when he attended the annual Asia security meeting, the Shangri-La Dialogue, in Singapore at the weekend. At the conference, organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mr Rumsfeld could not resist a passing swipe at Iran, which he described as "the leading terrorist nation in the world". He criticised the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, which brings together central Asian nations with China and Russia and is aimed largely at combating terror, for considering the possibility of Iranian membership.
Mr Rumsfeld, however, did not repeat his verbal assault of last year against the rapid rise in Chinese defence spending and went out of his way to emphasise US endorsement of multilateral as well as bilateral security arrangements in the Asia-Pacific.
The US is not abandoning its attempts to strengthen bilateral ties with old enemies and sceptical allies in Asia, and Mr Rumsfeld is to visit Vietnam and Indonesia. But the Pentagon and the US state department have together begun to take a more consultative approach to Asian security that rules out unnecessary confrontation with China and means more engagement with multilateral Asian groups. Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, was much criticised in Asia last year for her absence from the Asean Regional Forum, a security gathering hosted by south-east Asian states, and she is expected to attend this year's meeting in Malaysia next month.
There are good reasons for Washington's change of attitude. As François Heisbourg, the IISS chairman, noted, the world is poised between the "unipolar moment" of untrammelled US power and the new reality of a rising China. Militarily, the US remains overwhelmingly dominant in the Asia-Pacific, notwithstanding the Pentagon's justified concerns about Chinese acquisition of advanced weapons from Russia. Diplomatically and politically, on the other hand, the US is in trouble. The war in Iraq has alienated Muslims and the security situation in Afghanistan looks more shaky by the day.
Beijing and Moscow have found common ground in their desire to constrain the US's military power and democratising mission. They recently held joint military exercises that stoked fears of a new cold war - in which the US would confront China and Russia.
Mr Rumsfeld's gentler tone is welcome, as is his outspoken support for inclusive, multinational institutions where Asian security can be discussed. It is now up to Russia and particularly China - which remains secretive about its military strategy and has declined to send senior defence officials to the Singapore conference - to take the hand that Mr Rumsfeld has proffered.
