A woman takes a photo of a wall painting created by Myanmar graffiti artists to welcome U.S. President Barack Obama on a street in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012. Obama will visit Myanmar on Monday, in a first for a sitting U.S. president. White House officials on Thursday said he will use his visit "to lock down progress and to push on areas where progress is urgently needed" — most notably freeing political prisoners and ending ethnic tensions in the western state of Rakhine and the northern state of Kachin. Obama's stop in Myanmar, scheduled to last about six hours, is the centerpiece of his first foreign tour since winning re-election. (AP Photo)
Personal, strategic motivations for Obama in Asia
A woman takes a photo of a wall painting created by Myanmar graffiti artists to welcome U.S. President Barack Obama on a street in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012. Obama will visit Myanmar on Monday, in a first for a sitting U.S. president. White House officials on Thursday said he will use his visit "to lock down progress and to push on areas where progress is urgently needed" — most notably freeing political prisoners and ending ethnic tensions in the western state of Rakhine and the northern state of Kachin. Obama's stop in Myanmar, scheduled to last about six hours, is the centerpiece of his first foreign tour since winning re-election. (AP Photo)
By JULIE PACE
Associated Press /
November 18, 2012
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Obama’s other stops in the region also underscore the potential pitfalls of going all-in in Asia.
Thailand’s 2006 coup, which led to the ouster of the prime minister, strained relations with the U.S. and raised questions in Washington about the stability of its longtime regional ally. Cambodia, where Obama’s visit also marks the first by a U.S. president, has a dismal human rights record.
White House officials have emphasized that Obama is visiting Cambodia because it is hosting the East Asia Summit, an annual meeting the U.S. now attends. Aides say the president will voice his human rights concerns during his meeting with Hun Sen, Cambodia’s long-serving prime minister.
Still, human rights groups fear Obama’s visit will be seen within Cambodia as an affirmation of the prime minister and a sign to opposition groups that the U.S. stands with the government, not with them.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was also traveling to Thailand where she was going to join Obama. Clinton then was to fly to Myanmar with Obama on Air Force One. It will be the last joint trip for the president and his secretary of state, the once presidential rival who went on to become Obama’s peripatetic chief diplomat. Clinton is planning on leaving the administration.
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