In 2002, President George W. Bush stated, "I'm convinced the 21st century will be the Pacific century...America...is a Pacific nation, drawn by trade and values and history to be a part of Asia's future. We stand more committed than ever to a forward presence in this region." Such sentiment is not new. For more than two centuries, Americans have looked to the Pacific-Asia region with a mixture of wonder and trepidation. While the intensity of American interest has waxed and waned over time, the region's promise of unparalleled opportunity and the possibility of unprecedented danger repeatedly have made it a fixture in the American mind. This course, through an examination of historical precedent, present-day issues, and thoughts about the future, is intended to serve as an overview of a part of the world that has presented the US both with great opportunities and significant challenges, and promises to continue to do so well into the future. While his rhetoric may have been given over to hyperbole, many Americans today would agree with Senator Albert Beveridge who, in 1900, declared, "The power that rules the Pacific...is the power that rules the world."