President Obama, that's what his advisers like to emphasize, has a special relationship with the Asia-Pacific region, having been born in Hawaii and having spent his childhood and youth there as well as in Indonesia. Maybe this will turn out to be useful in his bid to re-engage with a continent that has felt neglected by America to some extent.

It is a common perception in Asia that the Chinese footprint has become larger over the last decade, while American influence has been on the wane. Jeffrey Bader of the US National Security Council explains: "During the period of Asia's emergence, the US has been substantially occupied with various fronts in the war on terror."

Engaging Myanmar helps with ASEAN

Now America is keen to show that it is back, and particularly in Southeast Asia. On the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC summit in Singapore at the weekend, Obama is set to hold the first ever summit meeting of a US president with leaders of the ten ASEAN countries. These include the junta of the internationally isolated Myanmar. Prime Minister General Thein Sein is expected in Singapore, and as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, an opportunity for him to talk with her or even Obama might well arise.

This would have been unthinkable under the previous Bush administration. Robert Sutter, an expert on Asia at Georgetown University in Washington says: "Now the Obama administration has a more flexible approach, which allows a free interaction with all the leaders of the ASEAN members, and that's very helpful in the administration's approach to dealing with the entire region!"

Controversial military presence

Obama will begin his political meetings in Tokyo on Friday. In Japan, he will have to address concerns within the newly elected Hatoyama government about the US troops stationed on the island of Okinawa. Obama's top Asia aide Jeffrey Bader says, "populations in our key allies in Northeast Asia support the alliances, but they want more equal partnerships with a lighter US military footprint. That is why we are reconfiguring our presence in Japan and South Korea."

Even if major changes in troop deployment are expected neither in Japan nor in South Korea, the Obama Administration has been showing a new readiness to listen to the views of its allies - also with regard to North Korea, an area where both Japan and South Korea felt out of the loop repeatedly during the last years. Jeffrey Bader says the Obama Administration has taken a different approach here as well:

"From day one, we have been scrupulous about building consensus with our allies on North Korea policy, genuinely soliciting their views, sitting down with them before we made a decision, not just afterwards, and never making a move without thorough discussions."

Before returning home from South Korea next week, Obama will also visit China on possibly the most challenging leg of his Asia trip.

Author: Thomas Bärthlein
Editor: Grahame Lucas