Obama enters the Asian fray
The president promoted his “Pacific pivot” strategy on a four-day trip to a region increasingly unsettled by China’s growing influence.
President Obama promoted his “Pacific pivot” strategy this week on a four-day trip to a region increasingly unsettled by China’s growing influence. Obama’s visit was the first by a U.S. president to Cambodia, which hosted a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and to Myanmar, where he met with Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and praised the country’s “flickers of progress” toward democracy. In a delicate statement at the ASEAN summit, Obama urged all countries in the region to resolve their deepening territorial disputes over uninhabited islands that are claimed by China and by others, including American allies Japan and the Philippines. But the summit ended in acrimony as Cambodia, a Chinese ally, sought to forestall efforts to set up an international system for resolving those disputes.
It’s no surprise the summit turned testy, said Melinda Liu in TheDailyBeast.com. U.S. allies in the region are nervous. “The backdrop for these simmering frictions is China’s inexorable rise, America’s scramble to remain a major player in the Pacific, and the shifting power balance between these two.” Obama wouldn’t say it openly, but his administration’s diplomatic outreach and new military deployments are all about encircling China.
He’s moving too fast, said Joshua Kurlantzick in The New Republic. Repressive Myanmar is nowhere near deserving of U.S. recognition, yet Obama rushed to embrace it. “Thailand and Laos are little better.” The militaries of all three countries have been accused of summary executions and crackdowns on ethnic minorities, yet all three benefit from Pentagon ties as buffers against Chinese influence. We should be wary of compromising our support for fledgling democratic movements to back these regimes, which may bring no “strategic benefits to the U.S.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Obama is proving a master of “cynical realpolitik,” said Michael Hirsh in NationalJournal.com. The president he “most resembles right now on foreign policy” is Richard Nixon—only instead of opening China to defy the Soviets, “he’s opening Myanmar to outmaneuver the Chinese.” It is definitely not a pretty tactic, but it may work. We can at least hope that “the short-term sacrifice of human rights for a longer-term triumph of American influence in the region” eventually results in more democracy as well.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Critics’ choice: Restaurants worthy of their buzz
feature A fun bistro, a reservation worth the wait, and a modern twist on Mexican dishes
By The Week US Published
-
Film reviews: Snow White, Death of a Unicorn, and The Alto Knights
Feature A makeover for Disney’s first animated feature, greedy humans earn nature’s wrath, and a feud between crime bosses rattles the mob
By The Week US Published
-
Bombs or talks: What’s next in the US-Iran showdown?
Talking Points US gives Tehran a two-month deadline to deal
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published