Author: Nina Hachigian, Center for American Progress, Washington

President Obama’s first steps in 2009 reveal a U.S. committed to reenergizing the role of the U.S. in Asia and set U.S.-Asian relations on a promising path.

Obama’s tenure began with an important symbolic gesture: The first trip that Hillary Clinton took as Secretary of State was to Asia, not Europe, where her predecessors for the last forty years had gone first. A few months later, without a great deal of fanfare, the Administration signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, which paved the way for President Obama, in November, to become the first American president to attend an ASEAN summit. This, too, was an important symbol that America would re-focus on Asia, show-up, and take Asia’s regional institutions seriously.

In terms of America’s treaty allies, Japan’s elections were momentous, and while U.S.-Japan relations under the new DJP government have not been entirely smooth sailing, these are still early days, and in time they are likely to work themselves out.

The potential U.S. trade pact with South Korea is looking more alive today than it has in a long time. Also significant on the trade front is the recent announcement that America will join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is small group of countries — Singapore, Chile, New Zealand, Brunei, (and potentially) Australia, Peru, and Vietnam — that, over time, may become a platform for economic integration across the Asia Pacific region. Applause broke out at APEC to welcome America’s renewed focus on trade.

North Korea’s nuclear program continues to vex. Efforts to roll it back are still following a predictable ‘one step forward two (or more) steps back’ pattern. That said, the bilateral engagement that the Administration was recently willing to have seems to have moved the ball forward modestly in terms of getting Pyongyang back to the Six Party table. China’s willingness to enforce United Nations sanctions against its neighbour and ally were another important development of 2009.

More generally, U.S.-China relations are off to a good start, although there will be challenging times ahead. The mechanisms for the relationship—the yearly Strategic & Economic Dialogue plus high-level bilateral dialogues, including a new one on terrorism—are in place.  Importantly, the relationship is firmly focused onto global challenges, most specifically global warming, as my co-authors and I had urged in a 2008 report. Whether its ’strategic reassurance’ that continues as the term to describe what is needed in the relationship, or ‘strategic partnership,’ or something else, Washington clearly views the relationship in strategic terms. That is encouraging because China’s engagement on transnational threats is often a key element in tackling them. But the negative media coverage of President Obama’s trip to Shanghai and Beijing suggest that everyone is going to have to get used to meetings that do not immediately produce a pound of flesh for political consumption. By their very nature, addressing major global challenges is fated to be a slow, frustrating process.

The final big power relationship, India, is being handled with similar strategic-ness, though the agenda is not as crowded. This relationship is sure to grow in depth now that the nuclear issue is settled, for better or worse.

What we can be sure is that next year will bring further wrangling, and perhaps progress, with North Korea. President Obama has saved what is sure to be an emotional trip to his childhood home of Indonesia for next year too. Hopefully, with the beginnings of a foundation from the Copenhagen summit, we will see more progress on global warming in 2010 as well.

This is part of the special feature: 2009 in review and the year ahead.

Nina Hachigian is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and co-author of ‘The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise.

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1. Obama and Asia – Weekly editorial
2. Year in review: Obama and Asia – Weekly editorial
3. Obama and East Asia – Weekly editorial
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