Demands in the Middle East risk leaving an aircraft carrier-sized hole in US naval power in the Western Pacific

• The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is on its way to the Middle East after exercises in Asia.
• Its departure will leave the US Navy without a carrier in the Western Pacific region unless another can be tasked to the area.
• If not, soon the only carriers operating in the area may be China's.

Ongoing conflicts in the Middle East are drawing the US military's focus and risk leaving the US Navy without any aircraft carriers operating in the Western Pacific, which is home to a major US rival and longtime foes.