Obama, Hostage of the Middle East

Among the grand objectives that Barack Obama marked out when he became president was the redirection of American diplomatic attention and resources toward the Far East, the region he considers crucial to U.S. interests in the 21st century.

During a visit to Japan in November 2009, Obama called himself the “First Pacific President” due to his interest in extending political and commercial ties with this region. This provoked a jealous attack from Europe, which has been used to being the prime center of the United States’ attention since the end of World War II.

In a break with tradition, which marks Europe as the first destination of every new Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton flew to China, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea on her first visit abroad — a full statement of intentions.

Last week, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates promised Singapore an increase of American military presence in Southeast Asia, a key region for world commerce in which China’s rise is provoking tensions between her and her neighbors.

In order to do this, a progressive retreat of American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan is needed. Obama is determined to do this, even if he believed that in order to pull out for good, a military increase in the short term was necessary.

However, this determination to redefine the U.S.’s strategic interests on a geographic level has clashed with the Arab Spring, which caused a chain reaction of deep political crises starting with Tunisia and continuing through Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria and those that are still to come.

As the majority of analysts maintains, the wave of change and instability in this explosive region will continue not only during the next months, but during the next years. Therefore, the Obama administration, or the one that will succeed it, is left with no other choice but to dedicate to this issue a range of actions and resources.

Obama is not the first U.S. president to find himself in this situation. His predecessor, George W. Bush, also arrived at the White House wanting to place China and the Far East at the center of his foreign policy agenda, but was forced to change his plans on 9/11. Obama, like Bush before him, is a hostage of the Middle East.