I’m excited to announce that 105 inspiring young people from across Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe will be joining the @ObamaFoundation Leaders program.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 21, 2023
I am so proud of all of you, and I can't wait to see what you do. pic.twitter.com/ifQMoumj2Q
Posts Tagged ‘Asia-Pacific
06
Dec
19
FLOTUS And Julia
Big news: actress Julia Roberts will join @MichelleObama on the main stage at #ObamaLeaders for a conversation abou… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
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The Obama Foundation (@ObamaFoundation) December 02, 201920
Jun
14
The President’s Day
President Barack Obama meets with New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington
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David Jackson: Obama: I’d Like To Visit New Zealand
President Obama welcomed New Zealand Prime Minister John Key to the White House on Friday, and said he would like to return the favor soon by visiting New Zealand. “I hear it’s really nice,” Obama said. “We’re going to be working with my scheduler.” One opportunity for a New Zealand visit comes in November, after Obama attends a Group of 20 nations summit in Brisbane, Australia. By that time, Obama is looking for major progress on a 12-nation Asia-Pacific trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Obama and Key appear to have a good relationship. They even played a round of golf together in January while both were vacationing in Hawaii.
More here
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National Security Adviser Susan Rice works in the Oval Office of the White House
30
Apr
14
Pete Souza: The Trip to Asia
Children help President Barack Obama to his feet after he sat on the floor to have a group photo with them during a U.S. Embassy meet and greet at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Manila, Philippines, April 28, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Mrs. Akie Abe present President Barack Obama with a Bo golf club cover at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, April 24, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama gives a fist bump to a baby during a U.S. Embassy meet and greet at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 27, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Barack Obama and President Park Geun-hye exit for a walk in the Little Garden to view a tree she planted on her Inauguration Day, at the Blue House in Seoul, Republic of Korea, April 25, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama is kissed by 94-year-old Carolina Garcia Delfin, a Filipina nurse who fought in the resistance against Japanese forces during World War II. The President mentioned her in his remarks to American and Philippine troops at Fort Bonifacio in Manila, Philippines, April 29, 2014 (Photo by Pete Souza)
Students So Jung Kim and Chi Hyun Lee present President Barack Obama with a bouquet of flowers as he arrives for a tour of Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, Republic of Korea, April 25, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Lots more gems here
29
Apr
14
Beautiful
President Barack Obama is kissed by 94-year-old Carolina Garcia Delfin, a Filipina nurse who fought in the resistance against Japanese forces during World War II. The President mentioned her in his remarks to American and Philippine troops at Fort Bonifacio in Manila, Philippines, April 29, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
28
Apr
14
Manila to DC
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Philippines Time (12 hours ahead of EDT)
9:10 AM: The President participates in the COMET electric vehicle viewing, Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel, Manila
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10:15 AM (10:15 PM EDT): Delivers remarks to the troops, Fort Bonifacio, Manila
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11:05 AM: Participates in a wreath laying ceremony, The Manila American Cemetery
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12:05 PM: Departs Manila, Philippines en route Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
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Don’t know what CBS live streaming will show tonight, but keep an eye on the link
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Alaska Time (4 hours behind EDT)
5:25 AM: Arrives in Anchorage, Alaska and Air Force One refuels
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7:50 AM: Departs Elmendorf Air Force Base en route Washington, DC
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EDT
5:45 PM: Arrives Joint Base Andrews
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6:0 PM: Arrives the White House
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28
Apr
14
Schooling Ed Henry
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Ed Henry:
More broadly – big picture – as you end this trip, I don’t think I have to remind you there have been a lot of unflattering portraits of your foreign policy right now. And rather than get into all the details or red lines, et cetera, I’d like to give you a chance to lay out what your vision is more than five years into office, what you think the Obama doctrine is in terms of what your guiding principle is on all of these crises and how you answer those critics who say they think the doctrine is weakness.
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From 31:20
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President Obama:
Well, Ed, I doubt that I’m going to have time to lay out my entire foreign policy doctrine. And there are actually some complimentary pieces as well about my foreign policy, but I’m not sure you ran them.
Here’s I think the general takeaway from this trip. Our alliances in the Asia Pacific have never been stronger; I can say that unequivocally. Our relationship with ASEAN countries in Southeast Asia has never been stronger. I don’t think that’s subject to dispute. As recently as a decade ago, there were great tensions between us and Malaysia, for example. And I think you just witnessed the incredible warmth and strength of the relationship between those two countries.
We’re here in the Philippines signing a defense agreement. Ten years ago, fifteen years ago there was enormous tensions around our defense relationship with the Philippines. And so it’s hard to square whatever it is that the critics are saying with facts on the ground, events on the ground here in the Asia Pacific region. Typically, criticism of our foreign policy has been directed at the failure to use military force. And the question I think I would have is, why is it that everybody is so eager to use military force after we’ve just gone through a decade of war at enormous costs to our troops and to our budget? And what is it exactly that these critics think would have been accomplished?
My job as Commander-in-Chief is to deploy military force as a last resort, and to deploy it wisely. And, frankly, most of the foreign policy commentators that have questioned our policies would go headlong into a bunch of military adventures that the American people had no interest in participating in and would not advance our core security interests.
So if you look at Syria, for example, our interest is in helping the Syrian people, but nobody suggests that us being involved in a land war in Syria would necessarily accomplish this goal. And I would note that those who criticize our foreign policy with respect to Syria, they themselves say, no, no, no, we don’t mean sending in troops. Well, what do you mean? Well, you should be assisting the opposition – well, we’re assisting the opposition. What else do you mean? Well, perhaps you should have taken a strike in Syria to get chemical weapons out of Syria. Well, it turns out we’re getting chemical weapons out of Syria without having initiated a strike. So what else are you talking about? And at that point it kind of trails off.
In Ukraine, what we’ve done is mobilize the international community. Russia has never been more isolated. A country that used to be clearly in its orbit now is looking much more towards Europe and the West, because they’ve seen that the arrangements that have existed for the last 20 years weren’t working for them. And Russia is having to engage in activities that have been rejected uniformly around the world. And we’ve been able to mobilize the international community to not only put diplomatic pressure on Russia, but also we’ve been able to organize European countries who many were skeptical would do anything to work with us in applying sanctions to Russia.
Well, what else should we be doing? Well, we shouldn’t be putting troops in, the critics will say. That’s not what we mean. Well, okay, what are you saying? Well, we should be arming the Ukrainians more. Do people actually think that somehow us sending some additional arms into Ukraine could potentially deter the Russian army? Or are we more likely to deter them by applying the sort of international pressure, diplomatic pressure and economic pressure that we’re applying?
The point is that for some reason many who were proponents of what I consider to be a disastrous decision to go into Iraq haven’t really learned the lesson of the last decade, and they keep on just playing the same note over and over again. Why? I don’t know. But my job as Commander-in-Chief is to look at what is it that is going to advance our security interests over the long term, to keep our military in reserve for where we absolutely need it. There are going to be times where there are disasters and difficulties and challenges all around the world, and not all of those are going to be immediately solvable by us.
But we can continue to speak out clearly about what we believe. Where we can make a difference using all the tools we’ve got in the toolkit, well, we should do so. And if there are occasions where targeted, clear actions can be taken that would make a difference, then we should take them. We don’t do them because somebody sitting in an office in Washington or New York think it would look strong. That’s not how we make foreign policy.
And if you look at the results of what we’ve done over the last five years, it is fair to say that our alliances are stronger, our partnerships are stronger, and in the Asia Pacific region, just to take one example, we are much better positioned to work with the peoples here on a whole range of issues of mutual interest.
And that may not always be sexy. That may not always attract a lot of attention, and it doesn’t make for good argument on Sunday morning shows. But it avoids errors. You hit singles, you hit doubles; every once in a while we may be able to hit a home run. But we steadily advance the interests of the American people and our partnership with folks around the world.
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Ed? Your time is up.
The Obama Diary 
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