特朗普声称已结束的八场冲突中，去年七月泰国与柬埔寨的短暂边境冲突看似最“干净”的案例，但它只是延续了持续一个世纪的积怨。为把风险压到十月在马来西亚签署和平协议之前，印太司令部司令萨姆帕帕罗多次乘坐蓝白相间的空军喷气机前往马来西亚，会见两国军方首长并促其停火。
印太司令部总部在檀香山，其司令（历来为海军上将）负责横跨地球表面一半、覆盖十二个时区的行动范围。由于华盛顿的宫廷政治让其他高官更贴近白宫，而拜登任命的大多数大使又被召回或缩短任期，帕帕罗凭借既有的人脉成为罕见的连续性来源，并试图安抚亚洲盟友在特朗普将注意力转向委内瑞拉与格陵兰、考虑对华“大交易”之际不会被抛弃。
资源层面，特朗普政府在国家防务战略中把美洲置于亚洲之前，使航母和防空系统更易被抽调至中东等其他紧急事态，从而加剧印太资源被“掠夺”的趋势。面对中国军力快速现代化与技术变迁削弱美方优势的统计性压力，帕帕罗推动将司令部打造为“AI 赋能”体系，并在一月于檀香山太平洋论坛会议上招待数百名与会者，在靠近威基基海滩的无窗会议室连续两天密集推演如何在战争中取胜。
Among the eight conflicts Donald Trump claims to have ended, the brief Thailand-Cambodia border clash last July looks like the cleanest case at first glance, yet it was only the latest episode in a century-old grudge. To keep the dispute from reigniting before an October peace signing in Malaysia, Indo-Pacific commander Sam Paparo made multiple trips on a blue-and-white Air Force jet to meet both militaries’ chiefs and press them to stop.
Indo-Pacific Command is headquartered in Honolulu, and its leader (always an admiral) oversees operations spanning half the Earth’s surface and a dozen time zones. With court politics keeping other top officials close to the White House and most Biden-appointed ambassadors being recalled or having tours cut short, Paparo’s long-standing regional ties have made him a rare source of continuity as he reassures allies amid Trump’s shifts toward Venezuela and Greenland and talk of a grand China bargain.
On resources, placing the Americas ahead of Asia in the national defense strategy increases the trend of carriers and air-defense batteries being pulled to other contingencies such as the Middle East. Against the measurable pressure of China’s rapid modernization and technology eroding U.S. advantages, Paparo is pushing an AI-enabled command and, at a January Pacific Forum event in Honolulu, hosted several hundred participants for two days of intensive war-focused discussions near Waikiki Beach.
Source: The outsize influence of America’s admiral in Asia
Subtitle: Can Sam Paparo keep US strategy on an even keel?
Dateline: 2月 05, 2026 07:02 上午