Obama's ASEAN Foreign Policy

A Mixed Bag of Hopes, Concerns and Expectations

A review of ASEAN nation's feelings after the confirmed election of Barrack Obama reveals some unusual variations. To be sure, there is a lot of excitement and high hopes to be found in the populace of almost every ASEAN country. These are tempered with some fear and serious concerns on the part of selected groups in several ASEAN nations.

In the Philippines there is a lot of worry about the desperate need for jobs in the USA. Indeed one of Obama's campaign promises was to take actions, such as the elimination of tax breaks, which will reduce or remove the attractiveness of outsourcing jobs from the USA. India also worries about this because this is a promise Obama can keep with little domestic down side. Keeping this campaign promise would increase jobs in the USA as well as increase US tax revenues. A double win for Obama with all the pain transferred back offshore.

Many in the USA feel the pain deserves to be transferred back off shore. Almost universally Americans have detested outsourcing and are constantly reminded of it almost every time they call a customer service branch of any US company for assistance. There is little that is more frustrating than calling on customer service for help with a serious problem and finding yourself talking to someone in a far off foreign country that has no idea how to do much more than forward your call to another foreign country, ad infinitum.

Philippine officials point to the small, but never the less ominous, signal that President elect Obama was unable, or unwilling, to accept personally the congratulatory call from President Arroyo of the Philippines. Obama's aides state only that the call from Arroyo came at a particularly in opportune moment in time. The call was placed when the time at Obama's location was approximately 0230 in the morning. Many Philippine citizens will be asking what the excuse was if Arroyo, in the USA at this time for meetings at the United Nations, does not get the opportunity for a personal visit.