Author: Thom Woodroofe, Left Right Think-Tank

A year ago Barack Obama declared himself the first ‘Pacific President’ but so far his engagement with the region leaves a lot to be desired.

President Obama hosted the second US-ASEAN Summit in New York recently. Many are hopeful the insubstantial two-hour lunch meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations will signal a turning point in the Obama Administration’s approach to Asia.
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Author: Thom Woodroofe, Left Right Think-Tank

The advent of the G20 as the most effective forum for global governance was former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s greatest foreign policy achievement, but it is time that it became a proper institution.

In early November, the world’s statesmen will gather in Seoul for the sixth G20 leaders meeting. Their key challenge is to ensure the forum can live on in a post-financial crisis environment. Read more…