Why is Obama threatening China?

[Lionel Mandrake]

Obama "announced he would send military aircraft and up to 2,500 marines to northern Australia for a training hub to help allies and protect American interests across Asia. He declared the US was not afraid of China, by far the biggest and most powerful country in the region."

Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/17/obama-asia-pacific-address-australia-parliament

What's the matter, don't we have enough enemies already?

Some hawks in the Pentagon and elsewhere think a war with China would be just dandy. They are out of their fucking minds, of course, but what about Obama? Is he trying to appease the hawks in order to get re-elected, or does he really want to pick a fight with China?

[DFab420]

1. Lol. I mean the reason should be obvious to anyone with an inkling of foreign policy and the way

world powers see each other.

But hey lets just make suppositions about Obama wanting a war or someother heavy handed myopic view of the world...


Here.. This Harvard Professor explains it better then me.


http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/nye101/English

[Lionel Mandrake]

3. No, it's not all that obvious.

I'll ignore your sarcasm and respond to "Here.. This Harvard Professor explains it better then me."

I can understand your reluctance to explain it. Joseph S. Nye's neoliberal theory is not that easy to follow, let alone explain. Here he gives a hint, only a hint, about what's going on:

"Obama’s November trip was also a message to China. After the 2008 financial crisis, many Chinese expressed the mistaken belief that the US was in terminal decline, and that China should be more assertive – particularly in pursuing its maritime claims in the South China Sea – at the expense of America’s allies and friends. During Obama’s first year in office, his administration placed a high priority on cooperation with China, but Chinese leaders seemed to misread US policy as a sign of weakness."

In other words, it's important to show the Chinese that we aren't scared of them. How do we do that? The usual way: as TR once said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

Obama spoke relatively softly in Australia. Check.

He also carried a big stick by promising to send aircraft and troops for "training exercises" in northern Australia. That's the part of Australia closest to China. Get it? Such military "exercises" are always meant as a threat. China will certainly get the message.

Despite the professor's learned words, I maintain that the need for this "pivot" is far from clear.

[SunsetDreams]

2. Here is a link to his ENTIRE speech in November to Parliament

I prefer to read the whole thing, instead of an article which may or may not take something out of context.

Here I'll let you read it

http://www.smh.com.au/national/text-of-obamas-speech-to-parliament-20111117-1nkcw.html

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. Thank's for the link.

I agree that it's best to see the whole speech, and not just snippets.

I have to wonder:

1. How did the speech play in Australia? I haven't got a balanced answer to that, but I have seen quite a few sarcastic references to "sabre rattling".

2. How did the speech play in China?