Asia trip tests Obama's post-election global clout

Considering he still speaks for the majority of Americans in telling China to STFU, I think he should be payed attention to.

Obama lost his clout long ago when people around the world saw that all his election hype was just that, and "Yes, We Can" meant the same thing as it did for his predecessors, which is, "yes, we can" disregard international law and social justice to promote an imperialist agenda that further empowers and enriches huge corporations and investors. It was predictable from the start as it is part of the job description.

I doubt he will make much of an impression - even lamer duck than he was over the last 2 years.

Hey world, YOU wanted President Obama. You got him (I didn't vote for him). For the first year after his first election, I was hopeful that the world mass knowledge was greater than mine in picking a President. YOU were wrong. If I recall, his credentials were "community leader" and half-term senator. Impressive.

I really like that he was given the Nobel Peace Prize, then started killing non-combatants overseas. Nice. Good job world.

I suppose we all need selective memory and there is no guarantee that the other option (who was that?) would have been nicer to the world.

The office of the President of the USA deserves respect in the same way that Premier or Prime Minister from any other country deserve respect. Sometimes, the men themselves do not, but we seldom know that before a first election.

Clout? Zero. But he does have a nice airplane to use for 801 days more. Yes, we are counting the days.

@EthanWilber

For example, right now China has 21 percent of South Korea’s two-way trade and 23 percent of Australia’s two-way trade, the figures show the China has surpass the US to become the largest trading partner for both of S.K and Australia

Which means they rank somewhere below Serbia on the list of wealthiest countries per capita. Someone is certainly full of themselves...

See you in Brisbane, Mr. President.

Don't be alert, Obama's hope and change always work beyond domestic consumption. However, if it smells bad, all participants would sense it.

White House officials spoke optimistically about Obama’s prospects for clinching trade deals in Asia and elsewhere now that Republicans are set to control Congress.

Back in 1994, US Presidential candidate Ross Perot said that US was in danger for losing industries and jobs. It has become the reality. Free trade deals are mostly political ideology such as NTR(normal duty rate) China export. PRC is richer. US is not ! Successive trade deals have not made the prosperity for US of the A.

Obama always utters ‘Yes, we can,’ which led to the high expectations people had for him,

When I watched inauguration ceremony from TV back in 2008, I thought Obama is another Lincoln who will unify the American and fulfil the American dream.

After six years in the white house, he is just the talk show host like Ellen. All his big talks have gone with the wind.

Hope they keep him in China. He would fit in well over there.

When I watched inauguration ceremony from TV back in 2008, I thought Obama is another Lincoln who will unify the American and fulfil the American dream.

Me too. I had high hopes. I still think he has done a good job, particularly considering his opposition was more concerned with opposing anything he proposed, rather than trying to do what's best for the country, but there were some areas in which he hasn't done nearly as much as he could. Gay marriage, marijuana legalization, privacy issues, middle-east policy - all are areas in which he could have done much more.

Well, i will say the Presid. already contributed his part, i will say in most areas. And of course u cannot satisfy everyone or solve all problems at once. In other words, once people have this, they will want more.

“Mr. Obama’s main commercial proposal for the Chinese will be a new bilateral investment treaty between the countries. Economists said it could be the most significant opening of the Chinese market for American companies since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.”

If President Obama can get his counterpart to buy his proposal of bilateral investment treaty between the countries, that would be great move for the American businesses.

Right now, China has flexed its economic muscle in Asia, competing directly against American business shares including American’s long-term allies. For example, right now China has 21 percent of South Korea’s two-way trade and 23 percent of Australia’s two-way trade, the figures show the China has surpass the US to become the largest trading partner for both of S.K and Australia. So, that is why Washington tries to push China to open more areas for Americans to do more business in China. In the meantime, Putin and Xi just signed anther agreement for the second gas line at the sideline of APEC.

Putting all of the activities together, Obama is working hard to make deals as well.

Let’s see how it play it out on Obama's trip.

Obama lost his clout long ago when people around the world saw that all his election hype was just that

Waripeace -- agree with this part of your post, but disagree with the remainder. I don't believe Obama lost clout because of what he did, but rather what he did not do. Like it or not, and I was not a big fan of it, when George W. rattled the sabre he generally followed through. All Obama has done is rattle it, and then let folks like China, Russia, Syria, Iran, North Korea, etc, out-mauever him by pretending to want to solve things diplomatically. As much as I disliked Bush and his chicken-hawks, I equally dislike Obama and his just plain reluctance to use force when needed.