Why it matters that Obama is skipping his trip to Asia

The administration's much-publicized pivot to the region continues to get short shrift

2011 APEC
(Image credit: (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images))

After canceling scheduled visits to Malaysia and the Philippines earlier this week, President Obama has pulled out of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Indonesia and the East Asia summit in Brunei. The president said the government shutdown made a big overseas trip impossible logistically — and politically it's hardly a good time to be seen frolicking in Bali, where even the journalists at the summit get free massages.

In Asia, though, they're calling it a missed opportunity. This is the second year in a row that Obama has skipped APEC (last year he was campaigning for re-election). He was supposed to use this trip to promote his "pivot to Asia" — which encompasses both the deployment of military assets in the Pacific and a push for free trade.

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Susan Caskie is The Week's international editor and was a member of the team that launched The Week's U.S. print edition. She has worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Transitions magazine, and UN Wire, and reads a bunch of languages.