President Obama has just finished his first trip as President to Asia. While meetings in Japan and Korea were important on issues such as army bases and North Korean nuclear proliferation, most attention was focused on his visit to China. Would he be able to convince the Chinese to revalue their currency? Would there be increased cooperation on halting Iran’s nuclear development? Would he press the Chinese on human rights? Would there be a new era of U.S.- Chinese cooperation through a G2?
At roughly the same time as President Obama’s trip, former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was making the media rounds with her new book. While she has resigned as Governor of Alaska and made no commitment to run for any office in 2012, Ms. Palin has been able to elicit considerable buzz across America.
Is there any relationship between the two events?
It is obvious that the President’s trip was not the success he envisioned. During the President’s first overseas trip to Europe, he was welcomed as a new hero with rock star celebrity. Finish the era of George Bush and the ugly American; Barack Obama represented enormous hope for a new way forward for the United States and the world. This time in Asia, he was welcomed as an American President of interest, but one who could not dictate his wishes as the unique superpower leader.
It would be obvious and banal to say that the Asians treated him as a weak President. Certainly they are watching his agonizing decision-making process over Afghanistan. Certainly they are watching his difficulty in convincing the Congress to pass major health care reform. And certainly they are aware of the increasing debt of the United States as well as the shockingly high unemployment figures. He went to China as a borrower visiting his most important lender.
The Asians may also be watching the Palin phenomenon. For behind the vacuous statements of the rogue politician is the growing feeling that the American population is tiring of lofty rhetoric and the good feeling of electing the first African-American to high office. The latest polls show Obama’s approval rating under 50% for the first time. Palin touches a populist chord in the U.S. – as the MCG does in Geneva – that bears careful attention. And the Asians’ perception of President Obama’s limitations may have a cascading effect on U.S positioning around the world.
