ON ASIA:
R
EMEMBERING OBAMA
N
APOLEON O N C E WA R N E D THE WORLD THAT “CHINA IS A SLEEPING GIANT. Let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will move the world.” This prediction became eerily true, especially in recent years. Ever since the West imparted the Open Door Policy in China during the late 19th century, forcing it to open its trade markets, China has ballooned in wealth and geopolitical influence. Former President Obama recognized this and was well known for his “Pivot to Asia” policy that became a focal landmark foreign policy initiative of his 2012 administration. In addition to China, President Obama attempted to establish healthy relationships with Southeast Asia as well as maintain a positive relationship with US ally Japan. Perhaps the most enduring achievement of this policy lies in Obama’s reconstruction of US foreign policy towards the ASEAN countries, which include Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and more. To accomplish this, he joined the East Asian Summit, hosted by ASEAN, thus establishing a joint US-ASEAN conference. Since then, the United States has improved relations with nearly every ASEAN country with the exception of Thailand given their political instability. The pitfall of the pivot to Asia policy had been Obama’s inability to get closer to China. Since his reelection, Obama failed on multiple fronts. First, the good part. He did succeed in conceiving the Paris Climate Deal, largely because he was able to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping to cooperate on a US-China landmark clean energy bill, reducing the gas emissions of both countries by an ambitious twentyeight percent by the year 2025. However, this bill had not turned into success elsewhere. The United States’ growing commitment to Southeast Asia came into conflict when China began escalating tensions in the highly debated South China Sea, an area that many countries claim to own. President Obama attempted to stay neutral in the affair, but the US’s last resort guarantor of the ASEAN countries contributed to growing US-China tensions. Another issue that assisted this divide is the widely controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, which included many Asian countries and the US but specifically excluded China.
16 ASIAN OUTLOOK
https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/09/03/thelegacy-of-obamas-pivot-to-asia/ https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/24/opinions/ trump-made-a-mistake-on-north-koreaghitis/index.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/us/ politics/trump-china-tariffs-trade.html
