James Fallow's take on the media's "manufactured failure" of Obama's Asia trip.

[pampango]

http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/11/manufactured_failure_6_the_wra.php

""I am known for having had a pretty consistent focus on human rights in my work as a journalist , so the comments that will follow should not in any way suggest that I believe in a de-emphasis in human rights with regard to China....if Obama had pulled a Khrushchev and banged his shoe on the table on these issues and really jumped up and down and made a lot of noise, then this would have achieved a markedly different result for the better. I don't think there's any evidence of that."

""We were very clear privately and publicly that the U.S. is going to be in on the ground floor on consultations about new international institutions. The key countries in the region really don't want a line drawn in the middle of the Pacific. There's a general concern over any attitude that would leave us out. No one is going to speak openly about any concerns over China's rise. Everyone understands that it's better to have a prosperous China than the reverse. But a robust U.S. presence in the region is widely seen as the best counterweight in the long-term.""

""Obama talked a great deal in public and in private about the need for the Chinese to increase demand. He made clear that we're simply not going back to the old model. So we are moving down what will be a long path."

"From the Asian perspective bowing to the older Japanese leader is a sign of strength. One does that because the power is not questioned, not because it is. Will Americans ("just win baby", "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing") ever understand this?..."

[babylonsister]

1. I think there were two or three parts to Fallow's observations that were

spot on and worth reading. He also has lived in China, so he knows what he's talking about. Rec'd.