Egypt, Elsewedy review progress on Ain Sokhna phosphate complex    US employment cost index 3.6% up in year to June 2025    Egypt welcomes Canada, Malta's decision to recognise Palestinian state    Pakistan says successfully concluded 'landmark trade deal' with US    Sterling set for sharpest monthly drop since 2022    Egypt, Brazil sign deal to boost pharmaceutical cooperation    Modon Holding posts AED 2.1bn net profit in H1 2025    Egypt's Electricity Ministry says new power cable for Giza area operational    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Italian defence minister discuss Gaza, security cooperation    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza, Nile dam with US senators    Aid airdrops intensify as famine deepens in Gaza amid mounting international criticism    Egypt exports first high-tech potato seeds to Uzbekistan after opening market    Health minister showcases AI's impact on healthcare at Huawei Cloud Summit    On anti-trafficking day, Egypt's PM calls fight a 'moral and humanitarian duty'    Egypt strengthens healthcare partnerships to enhance maternity, multiple sclerosis, and stroke care    Egypt keeps Gaza aid flowing, total tops 533,000 tons: minister    Indian Embassy to launch cultural festival in Assiut, film fest in Cairo    Egyptian aid convoy heads toward Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens    Culture minister launches national plan to revive film industry, modernise cinematic assets    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Sisi sends letter to Nigerian president affirming strategic ties    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt, Somalia discuss closer environmental cooperation    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Obama across the Pacific
Published in Daily News Egypt on 03 - 02 - 2009

MANILA: Unlike his predecessor, US President Barack Obama is popular from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He has reached out to the Muslim world and pledged to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without delay. The nations of Asia have a particular affection for him, owing to the years he spent as a child in Indonesia.
If Obama improves America's global standing with support from political heavyweights such as Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Bob Gates, National Security Adviser James Jones (a former NATO Supreme Commander), and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki (a former United States Army Chief), he should be able to ask more from America's allies, particularly for NATO to send more troops to Afghanistan. He will also be able to push Israel to reinvigorate the derailed Middle East peace process.
Although his national security team consists of people who largely supported the war in Iraq, Obama has made it clear that his agenda includes withdrawing troops from that country. International goodwill will probably be the key to his success, if not in re-establishing American hegemony, then at least in making America the "indispensable nation once more.
Although Obama is likely to give priority in his diplomacy to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he cannot take the Asia-Pacific region's stability for granted. The sources of uncertainty are many: tension between South and North Korea; anxiety over nuclear proliferation posed by cooperation between North Korea and Iran; managing the rise of China and India; and continued Islamist extremism on the Indian sub-continent, particularly Pakistan, as well as in Southeast Asia, where Al-Qaeda has established a second front through Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiyah.
Vast changes in America's presence across the Asia-Pacific region are underway and are likely to continue. So far, none of these changes have unsettled the region. Substantial redeployments of US military forces and assets, triggered by the need for additional troops in Afghanistan and ongoing problems over the US-Japan status-of-forces agreement, are already taking place. Media reports indicate, for example, that nearly 25,000 US marines, soldiers, family members, and civilian employees are to descend on the tiny island of Guam in the next five years to ease the over-concentration of US forces on the Japanese island of Okinawa without pulling back too far from the flashpoints of Taiwan and North Korea.
But the future of security in the Pacific should not be left to US decision-makers alone. Regional leaders must now develop their own strategy to transform Asia's many challenges into opportunities, with Obama playing the role of "good neighbor who expects other peoples to help themselves and put their own houses in order before turning to the US for assistance.
The Philippines is in an advantageous position to take advantage of the many diplomatic opportunities that will be generated by Obama's potential activism in the Pacific. To be sure, the country's "America card - the result of the two countries' longstanding strategic relationship (I myself was educated at West Point and fought alongside US troops in the Korean War) - must be played carefully and not be taken for granted. But it offers the potential for a relationship of the sort that arises only between countries with deep and many-layered ties.
By strategizing "out of the box and finding ways to link Obama's Asian agenda with that of their own nations, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other Asian leaders will be able to truly make the Pacific the central focus of the Obama administration's diplomacy.
Fidel V. Ramoswas President of the Philippines from 1992 until 1998. This commentary is published by DAILY NEWS EGYPT in collaboration with Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org).


Clic here to read the story from its source.