Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - Region: USA, grade: 1,3, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Institut fur Politikwissenschaft), course: US Foreign Policy in East Asia, language: English, abstract: For over half a century, the U.S. "hub-and-spokes" system has served as the informal security system of East Asia. The U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) alliance has been a key element within this bilateral security structure. Since the end of the Korean War, the United States has maintained significant levels of U.S. forces in South Korea, although there have been several force adjustments and withdrawals over time (Levkowitz, 2008). The accomplishments of the alliance and the U.S. presence on the peninsula, however, are often seen as ambivalent (Cha, 2003a).