QUAD becomes 'Squad'

Philippines first, India later, as U.S. prioritizes 'Squad' allies

WASHINGTON -- When the Biden administration came into office in 2021, it positioned the Quad, comprising the U.S., Japan, India and Australia, as the premier regional grouping in the Indo-Pacific.
 
President Joe Biden's Indo-Pacific Strategy of February 2022 mentioned the Quad 13 times, with promises to work on COVID-19 vaccines, critical technologies and supply chains. Conspicuously missing was cooperation on security.
 
That reluctance to discuss security cooperation is likely a major reason why the Quad has been overtaken by other minilateral combinations of alliances, most notably the U.S.-Japan-Australia-Philippines grouping nicknamed the "Squad."
 
Ashley Tellis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the Quad has its greatest value in peacetime.
 
"In militarized crises and conflict with China, the minilaterals like AUKUS and the 'Squad', and most importantly, the U.S.-Japan alliance will prove to be far more important than the Quad," he said.
 
"That is not to denigrate the Quad. It is simply underscoring a strategic fact of life."