In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

The current visit of Afghan President Karzai to Washington, D.C., accompanied by many of his ministers and high-level officials, is being greeted on both sides as an opportunity – indeed a necessity – to open a new page in the relations of two strategic partners in need of each other’s support and trust. There is bitterness on both sides even while there is an overwhelming hope to move forward and cease accusations and counter-accusations that have taken place ever since then-U.S. presidential candidate Obama visited Afghanistan in October 2008, and called upon President Karzai to get out of his bunker and face reality.

Negative feelings now overshadow all aspects of relations between the two governments. The relationship was darkly clouded by Afghanistan’s recent presidential elections and the harsh words, pressuring, and legal and political maneuvering that have accumulated through the actions (and inactions) of many individuals and institutions since then.

Read more »

President Barack Obama’s visit to Indonesia next week [Note from editor: President Obama's trip has been delayed to June 2010] is not just a return to a childhood home, but an opportunity for the United States and Indonesia to signal that their relationship – as with childhood friends who may have drifted apart in adolescence – is now emerging into a mature partnership.

Relations have not always been smooth between Indonesia and the U.S. – the Sukarno years were fraught with disagreements and constant tensions, and under Suharto’s New Order, the U.S. always felt some ambivalence in engaging with an authoritarian regime. But as an American child growing up in Indonesia in the 1970s and ‘80s, the people-to-people relationship in Indonesia seemed to me almost familial. Indonesians loved America – and enthusiastically and voraciously consumed American products, from KFC to Levi’s to Hollywood films. The “American dream” for Indonesians was to send their kids to university in the U.S., and middle-class parents scrimped and saved to that end.

Read more »

The Council on Foreign Relations interviews Scott Snyder, Director of The Asia Foundation’s Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, on the possibility of a visit by North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il to China. Snyder wonders if such a visit would include China’s urging North Korea to return to the Six Party Talks, which have been at a standstill since last December. Read the full interview on the Council on Foreign Relations website.

I was honored to represent The Asia Foundation at the seventh U.S.-Islamic World Forum co-hosted by the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center for Middle East Policy and the State of Qatar in Doha last month. The Saban Center has convened the forum for seven years, shaping an event that is duly recognized and anticipated as the premier gathering of American and Muslim leaders for discussion of critical issues and partnership opportunities.

This year, the three-day forum focused on President Barack Obama’s call – in his historic Cairo University address last June – for  a “new beginning” in relations between the United States and Muslims worldwide, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. Speakers, panelists, and participants were invited to explore what has changed in the eight months since Obama’s Cairo address – in  particular, whether the call for change has been reflected in substantive policy recommendations and program initiatives that advance U.S.-Muslim relations.

U.S. Senator John Kerry speaks with Foreign Minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabor Al-Thani at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum. Photo by Ralph Alswang.

There were a few moments in which friendly exchanges yielded to pointed comments, stern expressions, or awkward silence. These occasional tensions reflected the mix of optimism, expectation, and impatience that has followed the President’s call for change. While hard questions were raised on Afghanistan, and other tough issues were scrutinized and debated, it was clear that Arab and Muslim nations are still looking to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the ultimate yardstick of American resolve to turn noble pledge into decisive action. Participants set the bar high, but signaled every confidence that President Obama is sincere in his commitment.

Read more »

The International Violence against Women Act of 2010 originally introduced by now-Vice President Joseph Biden, was recently re-introduced in both houses of the 111th Congress after failing to come to a vote in the previous Congressional session. On February 4, Senators Kerry (D-MA), Boxer (D-CA), Collins (R-ME), and Snowe (R-ME); and Representatives Delahunt (D-MA), Poe (R-TX), and Schakowsky (D-IL) re-introduced this ground-breaking legislation in a seemingly anachronistic display of bipartisanship. The House bill (H.R. 4594) currently names 37 co-sponsors, the Senate bill 25. Both are now being reviewed by their respective foreign affairs committees, while the House bill is also being considered by the House Committee on Armed Services.

Read more »

In an interview with Bloomberg Business Week last Thursday, President Obama stated that he would like to complete pending trade agreements with South Korea, Columbia, and Panama, but there’s a catch. Although his State of the Union Address provided a potentially powerful strategic rationale for passing these free trade agreements (FTAs) as part of the administration’s effort to double exports over the next five years, the president’s statement in his interview with Bloomberg was actually a step backwards.

Read more »

Defence Secretary Robert Gates’ three-day visit to New Delhi last month not only bolstered India’s role in promoting security and stability in Afghanistan and the region, but also boosted bilateral defence cooperation and trade. His visit helps pave the way for President Barack Obama, who is expected to visit India this summer, and helps answer an important question the two countries have asked each other since India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington last year: Do we take a “strategic pause” to heal some rising negativity brewing in the relationship, or do we look for the “next big idea” to keep up the momentum?

Read more »

We welcome President Barack Obama with open arms, not just out of customary habit among friends. South Koreans share the world’s interest in President Obama’s global activities because he embodies a new path for the United States in international relations as well as in ties with old allies like us.

Read more »

With Hamid Karzai declared the winner of Afghanistan’s highly controversial presidential election, President Obama’s decision regarding future U.S. policy toward that country is considered imminent. As part of his deliberations, Mr. Obama has received the assessment of his military commanders, the advice of his top civilian leaders, and the views of NATO allies, among others.

Now there is one more piece of information that should be added to this mix, namely what the Afghan people are thinking.

Read more »

This week Barack Obama will make his first trip to Asia as President of the United States. In addition to paying state visits to China, Japan, and South Korea, President Obama will meet with 20 national leaders in Singapore to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Although member countries vary in economic clout individually, APEC economies collectively represent 55 percent of the world’s gross domestic product, 45 percent of global trade, and 40 percent of the world’s population.

Read more »