MANILA, Philippines — President Barack Obama landed in Southeast Asia today for string of summits with Asian leaders, a visit he had hoped would highlight progress in his seven-year charm offensive in the region — but was instead overshadowed by the fight against Islamic terrorism in the Middle East.
The terrorist attacks in Paris and talk of reprisals against the Islamic State threatened to cloud Obama’s good-news tour to the Philippines and Malaysia this week. While Obama was ready to talk up his freshly inked trade deal and military cooperation in Asia, the rest of the world was looking for leadership on the Islamic State’s relentless terror spree.
It was hardly the first time the Middle East has kept Obama from making the pivot his administration once imagined would be central to his foreign policy legacy. Instead of ending under Obama’s watch, old conflicts in the Middle East have morphed into new, equally intense ones. Instead of gradually moving to center stage, Obama’s agenda in Asia has had to compete for time and attention.
The White House was determined this week to show it would keep a steady focus despite the tragedy that consumed European allies. Obama left Washington as scheduled just hours after the night of violence in Paris left 129 people dead and hundreds more injured. He has not changed his plans for the nine-day trip that began Sunday at the Group of 20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.
