If Obama thought his short pass through Pacific would boost the much-vaunted U.S. “pivot” to Asia, he soon discovered that the world is not cooperating with his best-laid plans.
Obama’s Half-Pivot to Asia
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Philippines
Obama in Asia: Washington Extracts Rent-free Basing from the Philippines
By linking itself to Washington in its territorial disputes with China, the Philippines risks getting caught up in a superpower conflict.
World Cuts Back Military Spending, But Not Asia
Driven by a rising China and arms exports from the United States, military spending in Asia is on the increase.
A Budding Alliance: Vietnam and the Philippines Confront China
The Philippines and Vietnam are natural allies in their common territorial struggles against China. But they should leave Washington out of it.
Disaster Militarism: Rethinking U.S. Relief in the Asia-Pacific
Disaster relief has increasingly become part of the justification for increased U.S. troop deployments in the Asia-Pacific region.
U.S. Aid and Human Rights Violations in Philippines
As the human rights situation in the Philippines has deteriorated, U.S. military aid has ramped up.
The Asia-Pacific Pivot: More Smoke Than Firepower
The lumbering aircraft carrier known as the United States should be executing a pivot that lives up to its name: a shift from the martial to the pacific.
Typhoons and Tigers: Why Taiwan Has Outpaced the Philippines
If it weren’t for decades of Western-backed political and economic repression, the Philippines might have joined the Asian Tigers years ago.
Open Fire and Open Markets: The Asia-Pacific Pivot and Trans-Pacific Partnership
Thomas Friedman once said the hidden hand of the market needs the hidden fist of the military. The TPP and the Obama administration’s Pacific Pivot pack both.
Spineless in Bali
Developed countries are still using the WTO to squeeze small farmers in the developing world–and developing world governments are going along with the charade.