Obama II: What it Means for Southeast Asia and Thailand

Chulalongkorn University. Bangkok, Thailand. November 20, 2012. The Institute of Security and International Studies at Thailand's most prestigious university, Chulalongkorn, organized a distinguished international panel of academics to try to project President Obama's foreign policy during his second term, more specifically as it addresses China and Southeast Asia. Americans, perhaps, are beginning to realize that an important shift in emphasis of American foreign policy, which is known as the "pivot to Asia," which was begun by President Bush and which has found its full expression under President Obama is real and not some flash in the pan. In fact, the pivot to Asia will probably be President Obama's most enduring foreign policy legacy.

(Left to right:  Ambassador Robert W. Fitts, Sek Wannamethee, Prof. Klaus Larres, Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Prof. Thanet Aphornsuvan)

Contrary to what many would like to make it out to be, the pivot is not designed to contain China, which is not possible anyway. "Containment" is a cold war concept that does not apply to China-US relations and the US is not asking the countries of Southeast Asia to take sides. In other words, every agreement that the US reaches with this region is not a defeat for China, and every agreement that a Southeast Asian nation reaches with China, is not a defeat for the US. The US is not trying to weaken China. Rather, the US does not want this area of the world to become subservient to China the way Eastern Europe was dominated by the Soviet Union. It is in America's interest to balance China so that it doesn't become the only power in the region and, most importantly, to give Southeast Asian countries alternative space to pursue their own interests. Of course, this benign view of US foreign policy will not satisfy America's detractors in Asia, nor our own cold warriors, who would like the US to view China as an enemy, but it is a realistic policy that, if successful, is in the best interests of the US, China and all of Asia.