Philippines Replaces India in 4-State China Bloc as Quad Slips to Minister-Level Meeting
Updated
Updated · Foreign Policy · May 22
Philippines Replaces India in 4-State China Bloc as Quad Slips to Minister-Level Meeting
2 articles · Updated · Foreign Policy · May 22
Marco Rubio’s May 23-26 trip will host the Quad only at foreign-minister level after it failed to hold a leaders’ summit in India last year, underscoring the grouping’s loss of momentum.
Washington’s security focus has shifted toward a newer four-state “Squad” with the Philippines in India’s place, reflecting Manila’s expanded basing access and joint exercises with the United States since 2023.
India’s reluctance to confront China directly has long constrained the Quad, whose statements avoid naming Beijing and whose members remain split between a hard-security role and a public-goods agenda.
The Quad’s weak delivery has reinforced that drift: it promised 1.2 billion vaccine doses by end-2022 but delivered only 800 million, while later initiatives such as its HPV cancer program have also lagged.
That leaves the U.S.-China contest centered more on the first island chain and the East and South China seas, where a tighter ally-based coalition is seen as more relevant than the Quad.
With the Quad faltering, can a new U.S.-led 'Squad' truly secure the Indo-Pacific, or will it ignite the conflict it seeks to prevent?
As Washington pivots from the Quad to a new 'Squad,' is India being cast aside or is it cleverly playing its own great game?