INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Pacific Power

Today, President Obama returns from a nine-day trip to East Asia where he visited Japan, Singapore, China, and South Korea. His trip accomplished what it set out to do: demonstrate to the region that the "United States is back in Asia." Due to the failings of the Bush administration, there was a growing "mood in Asia" that saw the U.S., according to CNN's Fareed Zakaria, as "a power in retreat." Declaring himself the first "Pacific president" and emphasizing that the U.S. was a Pacific power, Obama dismissed the notion that the U.S. would pull back and sent a strong message that the country sees itself as playing a major role in Asia going forward. His trip served to reassure and strengthen key alliances with Japan and South Korea and affirmed a strong international approach toward North Korea. Importantly, the trip put the U.S.-China relationship laid the groundwork for developing a strategic partnership with China. Despite the focus on trivial matters by conservatives and the American press, the trip resulted in many notable accomplishments and reaffirmed America's status as a Pacific power.

THE U.S. IS BACK IN ASIA: With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Asia received short shrift from the Bush administration. Oxford University professor Timothy Garton Ash described U.S. involvement in Asia under the Bush administration as a "wasted decade," and a recent report from the Center for New American Security concluded that due to the Bush State Department's neglect of the region, "the Chinese made significant diplomatic inroads into countries like the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia." With the rise of China, the Bush administration's mismanagement of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the fallout of the U.S. economic crisis, there was growing belief that U.S. power and influence in the region was on the wane. Zhu Feng, a professor of international security at Peking University, explained that "in the wake of the financial crisis, the United States has faced regional anxieties about its future role in Asia. ... I think Obama saw the need to address those anxieties and show U.S. commitment to its allies and to China." As Ernest Bower of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington observed, Obama's trip helped assure the region that the U.S. was "back in Asia." Zakaria added that while Obama sought to build a productive relationship with China, he also wanted to make clear to China that "the United States intends to maintain its presence in Asia, that it's not backing down.”

THE PATH TOWARD PARTNERSHIP: The U.S.-China relationship is shaping up to be one of the most important bilateral relationships of this century. Instead of fear-mongering or putting the America on a confrontational footing toward China, as many neoconservatives suggest, a recent report from the Center for American Progress explains that growing interconnectedness between the two countries means the basis of U.S.-China policy should be on finding areas of cooperation and encouraging China to take on more responsibility on the international stage. The Obama administration has recognized this fact and instead of emphasizing areas of disagreement, Obama "sought at every meeting to focus on common ground, hoping for what he once described as a clearing away of 'old preconceptions or ideological dogmas' so that nations will be more likely 'to cooperate than not cooperate.' This strategy is a conscious rejection of the Bush Administration's approach." Liu Jiangyong, a professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, concluded that "just by showing that he'll listen, Obama has won credit that will give the U.S. a boost (in the region)." Furthermore, most of the coverage of the trip overlooked the many notable agreements that were reached. On climate change, the U.S. and China surprisingly announced a comprehensive plan for cooperation that was "much more ambitious in scope and depth" than anticipated. The U.S. and China both committed to strengthening the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty at a conference next spring -- a treaty that is critical to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. On North Korea, China supported U.S. efforts to bring them back to the bargaining table. And finally, the trip saw a major expansion of bilateral relations, especially in developing military to military ties. There is much more to do, but as Nina Hacigian, Asia expert at the Center for American Progress, explained, "[N]o one said it would be easy to cooperate with China's leaders -- or thrilling."

STRENGTHENING ALLIANCES: One of the main story lines prior to Obama's visit was a growing crack in the U.S.-Japanese relationship. Japan's new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama campaigned aggressively against Japan aligning itself so closely with the Bush administration and there was considerable uncertainty over which way the alliance was headed. Obama's trip has put the alliance back on firm footing, as both countries agreed "to deepen their post-World War II alliance to jointly tackle 21st century challenges." On his visit to South Korea, the Washington Times noted that Obama's visit was "unusual for an American president in that there were no major anti-American protests." There, Obama "delivered a stern message" to North Korea, as the U.S. and South Korea "agreed on a common approach" to addressing the North. The President announced he would send special envoy Stephen Bosworth to Pyongyang next month in an effort to get North Korea back to the negotiating table. But Obama warned the North Koreans: "I want to emphasize that President Lee and I both agree on the need to break the pattern that existed in the past in which North Korea behaves in a provocative fashion, then is willing to return to talks, and then talks for a while, and then leaves the talks and seeks further concessions."
 

Under the Radar

RADICAL RIGHT -- NEW RIGHT-WING CRAZE PRAYS THAT OBAMA'S 'DAYS BE FEW': The newest far-right craze is an anti-Obama slogan making its way onto t-shirts, bumper stickers, mugs, and even teddy bears and baby bibs: "Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8," which reads, "Let his days be few; and let another take his office." It's unclear whether the intent is to hope for an end to Obama's time in office -- or an end to his life. But the sentiment of the rest of psalm suggests the latter: "Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow." Diana Butler Bass at Beliefnet explains that Psalm 109 is one of the "imprecatory" prayers, "a lament in the form of petition to destroy one's enemies." While perhaps intended to be a joke, she notes that the psalm actually "entreats God to destroy the president." CafePress.com and Zazzle.com, which had been selling "Pray for Obama" items, took them down. Yesterday, however, a Cafe Press representative told The Progress Report that the site was reinstating the merchandise because it deemed it "fair political commentary." Cafe Press is now asking users to vote on whether the merchandise should continue to be sold. On Tuesday, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow spoke with "Patience With God" author Frank Schaeffer, who said that while the psalm was "frightening" in a secular context, it's even "more threatening" in a biblical context.
 

Think Fast

"The tea party movement has become so rife with internal feuding over philosophy, strategy and money that some supporters fear it will disintegrate before realizing its full potential," Politico reports. "Some of these groups may burn out, but this is part of this entrepreneurial process and the competition is good," said Adam Brandon, vice president of communications for FreedomWorks.

"The Obama administration won't announce its new comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan until after Thanksgiving," a White House official confirmed to Foreign Policy's Josh Rogin. "Observers and experts close to the discussions see it as the White House's attempt to stage a full and controlled roll out over the week beginning November 30."

A new survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association finds that nearly 1 in 10 homeowners with mortgages was at least one payment behind in the third quarter of the year. The delinquency rate is the highest since the association started keeping records in 1972.

The U.S. military says the vast majority of the 700 detainees at the prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan "could eventually be released because they're fighting more for money than ideology." Brig. Gen. Mark Martins said that 10 to 20 percent of the inmates at Bagram are considered hard-core or "irreconcilable" Taliban fighters.

"The U.S. Army will allow the media limited coverage of Sarah Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg, but will bar reporters from interviewing her or her supporters on the post," reports the AP. "A Fort Bragg spokesman initially said the Army would ban the media from Palin's book signing next week, fearing it would turn into political grandstanding against President Barack Obama."

Republican governors have "urged GOP candidates competing in 2010 elections to not harshly attack President Barack Obama, citing polls that show his personal popularity remaining strong despite unease over his policies." "We need to be careful," said Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS). "We need to treat the president respectfully. ... This is a guy that people like."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said yesterday that it will begin "auditing companies that might have hired" undocumented immigrants. One thousand firms have been "notified," and the agency said it is "focused on finding and penalizing employers who believe they can unfairly get ahead" with undocumented labor.

The Senate finally confirmed Judge David Hamilton to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday following a GOP filibuster that caused a five-and-a-half month delay in his confirmation. "This is a nomination that should be confirmed and should have been confirmed months ago," Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said.

"America's once clear dominance in space is eroding" to other nations, including Russia, China and India, a panel of experts told the House subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics yesterday. Sixty nations now have their own space agencies, and "Russia now leads the world in space launches," the panelists said.

And finally: At the recent Energy and Commerce Committee markup of the Radioactive Import Deterrence Act, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) broke into song.

Blog Watch

Matthew Hoh and Daniel Ellsberg discuss Afghanistan.

Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Alan Grayson (D-FL) team up to audit the Federal Reserve.

The other Going Rogue.

Republicans don't believe that Obama won the election.

Taking on America's historical amnesia.

Six-year-old girl is on the verge of "never hearing again" due to insurance company malfeasance.

What did the TARP actually accomplish?

Global boiling declares war on Thanksgiving.
 

Daily Grill

"I denied that absolutely."
-- News Corp. President Rupert Murdoch, 11/19/09, denying he said President Obama made a racist comment

VERSUS

"He did make a very racist comment. Ahhh…about, you know, blacks and whites and so on."
-- Murdoch, 11/08/09