Oh - dont forget Asia!

Across the USA and the world the message of change is still perhaps resonating even as the Obama Administration struggles through its series of faux pas in the midst of the global economic crisis and the American entanglement in two wars!

Anticipation and aspiration is still alive.

After 8 years of Bush ignoring Asia, atleast Obama has started on the right note of engaging with Asia.
There was worry and speculation as Asia did not feature strongly on Obama’s campaign trail or even in the run-up to his inauguration.
Yet now it seems Asia represents a new and necessary dimension in America’s foreign engagements.

In the last 8 years Asia has grown immeasurably.
Obama realizes that. The hawkish Hillary Clinton also perhaps does now.
The regions growth is not just in economic terms only. Asians have a growing confidence to deal with their own issues and contribute to global governance.

While Obama has been talking of going more multilateral, he must recognize that the global community now has more stakeholders than just the established powers of Europe and Japan. New forms of global governance and new ways of engaging rising Asian powers (read India, China and Indonesia) will be critical for America’s success.
America’s Asia policy cannot just be a tidy box of simple bilateral relationships alone. There is a need to see broader implications for the region and on the global regimes.

A central challenge will be to link Asia policy with priority global issues.
And the role of India and China has come about even more clearly now in the current global economic crisis.
And the United States cannot ignore this anymore.

Ties with China have to mature despite the differences over issues of Tibet; inflated Yuan and ever increasing military might.
On North Korea, Climate Change and other fronts, USA and China have to learn to manage to co-exist and show the ability to cooperate.

While in India, many claim that it was Bush who first acknowledged India’s rightful stature in the world, is being celebrated. But this I feel can be a mixed blessing - not for India, as much as it for USA to counter explanations on Iran and North Korea getting more room to have a say on nuclear issues.

Can Mr Obama continue the now close relation with India what with an unstable and prickly Pakistan and a 'beyond repair' Afghanistan without bringing in the touchy Kashmir issue?

The new President cannot afford to compartmentalize problems between what are global issues as opposed to issues limited to particular Asian countries. Remember, terrorism and religious jihadist has no borders or loyalty!

While Mr Obama is busy grappling with pressing domestic and global priorities, he has to at critical junctures understand the Asian perspectives. He has to be pragmatic and open minded and has to think newly and differently about Asia.

Mr Obama has already started taking the right steps, even if they are baby steps …..towards Bush’s inattention to a ‘forgotten war’ in Afghanistan.

Relationships depend not only on having a new or the right policies.
Success or failure often rides on the people driving these polices.

Mr Obama, on the whole, has brought this new optimism for solving the problems of the world.
But a difficult agenda lies ahead of him and even the best and the brightest will be challenged!