THE DUUNS GLOBALIST
Does current Middle Eastern instability undermine Obama’s East-Asian pivot? By Mark Lazar
In October 2011, Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State at the time, signalled a major change in US foreign policy with her article: ‘America’s Pacific Century’, published in Foreign Affairs. US should focus on East Asia, rather than the Middle East, she argues, because “The Asia-Pacific has become a clear driver of global politics” and it is of seminal importance for the US “to lock in a substantially increased investment (encompassing the) diplomatic, economic, strategic”. This is reflected diplomatically with both Clinton and Obama having significantly increased official visits to the continent. More tangibly, full withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in December 2011, and the intention for Afghanistan to follow suit by 2014 also signified Obama’s reluctance to stay actively embroiled in Middle Eastern affairs. Furthermore, second term Presidents traditionally shift their focus from domestic to foreign policy, as they can afford to take more risks without the specter of re-election constantly overshadowing their actions. In Obama’s case, a focus abroad is probable for two additional reasons. Firstly, he has already secured his domestic legacy with Healthcare reform, and secondly, the intense partisanship from House Republicans means that further domestic legislation of that magnitude is unlikely to get passed. Thus, there are significant indications pointing to increased US involvement in East Asia. However,
Photo Credits: Left Photo: Nytimes.com Right Photo: Adabarz.co.uk
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questions remain: what would the pivot entail and are their other obstacles to Obama’s vision? National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon, speaking on the subject of Obama’s recent Asian trip - his first journey abroad since reelection - commented that Obama decided to pivot to Pacific-Asia in early 2009, the start of his first term. Since then, the Middle East has become more unstable, through events such as the Arab Spring, Iranian nuclearisation and renewed hostilities between Israel and Palestine. These three issues require US focus. Democratization of the Middle East is of considerable importance, and its current limits (recently manifested by Morsi increasing his constitutional powers in Egypt) will be of concern. Indeed, Obama has been criticised for his piecemeal response to the Arab Spring; intervention, or even condemnation of violence has not reflected the severity of individual situations, but has arguably cohered more with US interest. Majority support for Palestine becoming a UN nonobserver state has left the US on the wrong side of international opinion. Arguably their decision to oppose that resolution moves the US away from a two state solution, which is their official policy. In any case, Netanyahu’s decision to build 3000 Israeli homes in the E1 block, separating East Jerusalem (the future capital of the Palestinian state) from the West Bank, has