The Obama Administration's (Neoliberal) Reengagement Policy in East Asia: Implications for U.S. China Relations in the Twenty-first Century

This article examines the influence of neoliberalism on President Barack Obama's foreign policy agenda and reengagement policy in East Asia. Using the basic tenets of neoliberalism, it critiques the Bush administration's post 9/11 foreign policy. It also compares neoliberalism and realism/neoconservatism as U.S. foreign policy approaches to the security challenges of the twenty first century. The article goes on to analyze the ideological perspective of President Obama's foreign policy agenda in East Asia. Obama's apparently neoliberal campaign statements and official pronouncements are concretized in his actual foreign policy decisions and actions. This new mode of conducting foreign policy has strengthened Washington's relations with its Asian friends and allies, but has complicated U.S.-China relations. In conclusion, the article contends that the realization of the neoliberal agenda in U.S. foreign policy in East Asia is con-tingent on four factors: prioritization of East Asia over other pressing foreign policy concerns; the competence and skills of the Obama administration's key foreign policy advisers;U.S. economic recovery and renewed competitiveness; and President Obama's reelection in 2012.