President Obama in Asia – What was accomplished?

White House Photograph

Presidential trips like the one President Obama finished up this week aren’t necessarily commonplace. But they aren’t out of the ordinary either.

They offer the U.S. President the opportunity to build personal relationships with foreign heads of state, hammer out important diplomatic compromises and build goodwill around the world. Did President Obama do any of this on his swing through Asia?

An honest answer would be yes, no and maybe. President Obama has developed a working relationship with the President of South Korea, which they both acknowledged in a press conference late Wednesday. The President, however, accomplished very little in the way of details, especially regarding the presence of U.S. troops in Japan, which was taken off the agenda all together because lower-level staffers couldn’t come to terms. Lastly, President Obama was greeted with a mixed reception around the region – cheers in Singapore, censorship in China.

The fruit from a trip like this may take some time to bear out, so it’s hard to say in the end what he really accomplished.