Leid Stories - 11/13/14

Obama’s Asian ‘Pivot’: Foreign-Policy Wins Needed to Offset Domestic Disaster

Having struck an agreement in principle with China to jointly lead global initiatives to combat climate change, President Barack Obama is in Myanmar today for the 25thannual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, comprising the sixth-largest economy in the world. Tomorrow, he arrives in Brisbane, Australia, for the ninth summit meeting of the G-20 nations.

Still reeling from a trouncing by Republicans, Obama is pushing hard to make the mileage he’s putting in pay off. Voters rebuked his domestic policies; the “pivot” toward Asia that he touted as a centerpiece of his foreign policy could gain him and the Democrats some badly needed points. The problem, says our guest, is that the United States isn’t exactly getting rave reviews from these nations either. Besides, they’ve significantly changed the power equation between themselves, as some of the largest economies in the world, and the United States.

Diplomatic scholar, historian and prolific author Dr. Gerald Horne, the John J. and Rebecca Moores chair of history and African American studies at the University of Houston, deciphers whether the Asian climate bodes well for Obama’s pivot.