If It Ain’t Broke . . . Ken Jimbo Ely Ratner’s article, “ The Case for a Pacific Defense Pact ” (July/August 2025), reflects an appropriate sense of urgency about deterring Chinese aggression among Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the United States. Yet his central argument—that these countries should codify mutual defense obligations—overlooks crucial realities that make what others have termed an “Asian NATO” counterproductive. Relative political homogeneity and a degree of