Since he was elected, President Obama has wanted to be known as the first “Pacific President”. Although he hasn’t done much to live up to his self-proclaimed title so far, Mr. Obama says that is changing.
America’s allies in Asia have rightly complained about only receiving intermittent attention from the U.S. According to Mr. Obama, this marginalization of the East has ended; America is shifting its focus to Asia and the Pacific, and keeping it there for good.
Senior administration officials back up the president, saying that the President has had to deal with “inherited issues” tied to President Bush’s “war on terror” for most of his first term. According to the officials, now that troops are being pulled out of Iraq, and that there is a deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan, the U.S. will begin to bring the Asia-Pacific region more into focus.
At his stop in Canberra, Australia’s capital (as part of his recent Asia-Pacific trip), Mr. Obama announced with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard that the U.S. will put rotating units of marines in Darwin, in Northern Australia, for training and exercises. Although China has implied that it is uncomfortable with the decision, Mr. Obama has affirmed that the decision in not meant to hinder China’s “peaceful rise”.
Andrew Elam
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