The U.S. wants to be a Pacific power, and so far it's on the right track



World leaders arrive to take family photo at the APEC Summit / Reuters

President Obama is having a good week. He held court in Hawaii at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, pushed through a reduction on tariffs for environmental goods, and gained steam on what has become his signature regional free trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with interest from Japan, Canada, and Mexico. On to Australia, President Obama and Prime Minister Gillard agreed to enhance joint military training and provide the United States with access to Australian bases. Score two for the president. His last stop will be Bali for the East Asian Summit. For a home run, the president need only let Washington's allies take the lead in setting the agenda--thereby allaying quietly-voiced concerns among some of the smaller Asian nations that the United States would try to control the agenda--and reaffirm the willingness of the United States to support its partners' interests.

For many observers, President Obama's trip represents a "return to Asia." The truth is that the United States never left Asia; it was just focused elsewhere in the region. Mostly, Washington was busy banging its head against the wall trying to find ways to work constructively with China (translation: get the Chinese to change their economic, political, and security policies) and to persuade North Korea to step back from the nuclear brink. Suffice it to say that neither effort yielded a significant return. The president and his team have now realized that it is much more substantively productive and politically profitable to spend time with people whose overall political values, economic practices, and strategic interests are generally aligned with those of the United States--namely all the important players in the region except for China.