ONE FAILURE AFTER ANOTHER:

Concerns Rise Around Obama's First Swing Through Asia (Jonathan Weisman, 11/15/09, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)

On Sunday, leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum dropped efforts to reach a binding international climate change agreement in Copenhagen next month, settling instead for what they called a political framework for future negotiations. [...]

The U.S. and Russia now appear unlikely to complete a nuclear arms reduction accord by Dec. 5, when the current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expires. Obama met for closed-door consultations with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, but National Security Council Russia specialist Michael McFaul said major issues remain, and the two countries are working out a "bridging agreement" to extend previous arms-ratification rules.

On trade, the U.S. president committed this weekend to re-engage the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a fledgling free trade alliance in the region. But a presidential shift in tone toward more trade engagement will face its real test Thursday when Obama visits South Korea to discuss a free trade agreement with that country that remains stuck.

And on Iran, Obama and Medvedev were left to warn leaders of the Islamic republic once again that "time is running out." Iran has yet to agree to a Russian offer to provide nuclear material for research in exchange for the closure of a nuclear reactor that Western powers say could be used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.

Halfway through his Asian tour, Obama is confronting the limits of engagement and personal charm.

He's been handed a moment when the rest of the world is begging for freer trade but doesn't have the stomach to run with it.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 15, 2009 9:32 AM