Archive
U.S. aircraft carrier headed to Korea
President George W. Bush and Laura Bush welcome South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his wife, K...
Top news: U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak have agreed to stage joint naval exercises as a first response to North Korea’s shelling of a South Korean military installation today. The exercises will include the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington.
The U.S. faces few attractive options in responding to North Korea‘s latest aggression. It’s clear from recent revelations of the progress North Korea’s nuclear program that sanctions have not been fully effective. But more aggressive responses, such as a naval quarantine, would require thousands of troops and could result in a new war with Seoul on the front lines.
North Korea has blamed the South for pushing the peninsula to the “brink of war” though satellite images show no major military buildup.
Why world leaders smacked down Obama at G20 summit
|
|
By Howard LaFranchi
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (TCSM) How do you say “shellacking” in Chinese? Or German? Or Korean?
Fresh from his self-described shellacking in this month’s midterm elections, President Obama has gotten pretty much the same treatment from foreign leaders as he has made his way through Asia this week.
Leaders at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Seoul, South Korea — China and Germany topping the list — made it clear that they feel freer than ever to stand up to the United States on global economic issues. And South Korea refused to bow to Obama administration demands for reworking a US-Korea free-trade agreement dating from the Bush administration, putting off conclusion of the trade pact until at least next year.
Mr. Obama’s drubbing at the polls Nov. 2 is no doubt one factor in these countries’ willingness to stand up to a US president who remains popular in many of their countries.
“It would be naive to say [the election results] don’t have an impact, because it does hurt him,” says I.M. Destler, who specializes in international security and economic policy at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. “I’m just not certain that if the election had been much more positive for Obama, he would have done much better” in winning global support for his economic views.
Another, bigger explanation for the global defiance can be found in the state of the US economy relative to that of some of the US’s largest trading partners, global economic analysts say. China this year rocketed to the No. 2 slot of world economies (behind the US), while Germany’s unemployment rate is already several notches below the US’s 9.6 percent as German exports have boomed — despite slow overall German economic growth.
But perhaps nothing played a bigger role in lining up international opposition to Obama than the Federal Reserve’s action last week — pumping $600 billion in new money into the economy. The world saw that move as devaluing the dollar to make American products cheaper, rather than as an effort to stimulate US economic growth.
“Remember that before the G20, there was much more pressure on China than on the US in terms of this question of global imbalances” of deficits and surpluses, says Benn Steil, director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York. “But given the timing of the Fed’s actions,” just days before the summit, “it makes it look as if the US is behaving no differently,” he adds, “and China exploited that to the maximum.”
One result of the announced US plans? is that China and Germany suddenly found themselves on the same page in their opposition to global measures (as advocated by Obama) to address trade imbalances. “When the Chinese and the Germans find each other, you get a powerful coalescing of interests, and it emboldens them,” says Mr. Destler.
This rejection of the US vision of the way forward for the world economy is not new and certainly does not date from Nov. 2, some experts point out. But it is nevertheless easier for world leaders to tell Obama they do not agree with him when they believe the American people have just done the same.
Another explanation is that countries that early on in the global economic crisis rejected or mostly resisted Obama’s call for hefty stimulus spending to get the economy moving again believe that time has proven them right. German Chancellor Angela Merkel could rebuff Obama’s call for trade rebalancing measures in Seoul smug in the assurance that her nein to Obama’s stimulus prescription last year paid off — at least for Germany.
“Some of what we’re seeing, particularly in the case of Germany, is this feeling that ‘We were right,’ ” says University of Maryland’s Destler.
The G20’s final communique makes a bland reference to watching out for imbalances in trade accounts, but includes no triggers or mention of measures to be taken. And with countries watching out for their own bottom lines in a weak and uncertain global economy, coordinated economic action is not likely to flourish any time soon, international economists say.
“Prospects for common action are very tough at the moment and are unlikely to improve very soon,” says the CFR’s Mr. Steil. It will take a stabilizing of the value of the dollar — which remains the world’s major reserve currency — and a strengthening of the US economy for that to happen, he says.
It may also take a US president in a position of strength — which is not where Obama finds himself at the moment. “He looks very weak on the international stage,” says Steil. “You combine that with the US economy performing as weakly as it is, and it emboldens others to act in ways they might not have otherwise.”
Asia angry with U.S. over new stimulus
Steve Herman – VOA News Saturday 6th November, 2010
 Less than a week before South Korea hosts the Group of 20 economic summit, Asian governments are preparing to counter a new effort by the U.S. Federal Reserve to boost the American economy. One of President Barack Obama’s top economic advisers is not certain how much the Fed’s move will help. Financial officials in Beijing, Seoul and other countries are reacting harshly to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s plan to pour more dollars into the economy. Asian countries worry the Fed’s move will send a wave of cheap dollars to the region, driving up the value of their currencies, and dangerously inflating property and stock prices. And, some economists in the region say, it may not do much to help the stagnant U.S. economy. In a speech and remarks to reporters in Seoul Friday, even the chairman of President Obama’s economic recovery advisory board, Paul Volcker (pictured), was less than optimistic about the Fed’s move. “The object of the exercise is obviously to provide some support for the American economy. I don’t think that will be very large. That doesn’t say there won’t be any. And there are certainly hopes there will be some. But I don’t think that action alone will make a very dramatic difference,” said Volcker. The former Fed chairman was speaking less than a week before the South Korean capital hosts political leaders at the Group of 20 summit. The meeting is supposed to find common ground to power a global economic recovery and reduce international financial and trade imbalances. But there are growing signs the 20 leading economies may not achieve that goal. Thai officials are raising the possibility of Asia policy makers uniting to combat an expected flood of dollars as investors look to the region for better returns as a result of the U.S. move. China, the number two economy behind the United States, on Friday expressed concerns about the Fed’s move. Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai spoke at a briefing in Beijing on the G20 summit. He says Washington owes other countries an explanation of the Fed’s move, and that he has seen considerable concern about its effect on other countries. Cui goes on to say that as the main issuer of a reserve currency, the United States needs to take a responsible position. Cui also rejected an idea, apparently supported by Washington and Seoul, for the G20 leaders to set specific targets for trade deficits. The currency issue threatens to overshadow other agenda items at the G20 meeting, much to the consternation of host South Korea. But that has not prevented the Finance Ministry here from warning the Fed’s action could force Seoul to take steps to limit incoming dollars, such as taxing foreigners who invest in South Korean treasury bills. The Bank of Japan on Friday decided to keep at virtually zero a key interest rate. The Japanese central bank hopes this will foster a long-sought recovery for the world’s third largest economy.
|
Founder
Margot B News
NinetteOur Store
Margot B. News 