This chapter demonstrates how Washington came to appreciate the western Pacific as an indispensable geostrategic space and how American strategy prioritised regulation of the sea routes safeguarding this natural barrier. In addition, the author re-evaluates the current understanding of the 1950s crises in East Asia. The author argues that, following these crises, the United States reappraised the western Pacific rim and came to regard it as the most strategically valuable area of the Pacific. It reshuffled the organisational structure of the Pacific Command once again by strengthening its naval connection with its allies, particularly Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, as these were choke points on the front lines of the Cold War.