All posts tagged: foreign policy

10 Things President Obama Should Do in Laos

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Well, this is a first for a United States president. Earlier this week, President Obama announced that he’ll visit Laos by end of 2016. Just in time for the ASEAN economic summit that Laos is hosting as current chair and member.  After White House National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes visited Laos to learn about the UXO issue and after the memorable visit by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton– it was only time before POTUS himself would make an appearance. As the pivot towards economically-booming Southeast Asia continues and on the heels of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, this will no doubt seal President Obama’s legacy before his term ends. We could be biased but while we know that Laos is quite arguably the coolest place to be in Southeast Asia, a lot can change in the course of one year before the POTUS visits. We know he’s a busy man, so we conjured up some to-do’s for his staffers to use. Here’s a fun list of “10 Things President Obama Should Do in Laos”. Take a stroll along …

Should President Obama visit Laos?

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As reported on Voice of America, “President Barack Obama is set to visit Burma this month, as part of a four-day trip to Southeast Asia. The president will also stop in Thailand and Cambodia. Obama will be the first U.S. president to visit Burma and Cambodia.  The trip is scheduled for November 17-20.” Will he make a side trip to Laos? Granted, it’s already been a big year with U.S. Secretary of State Clinton making the first trip back to Laos this summer, making it the first time since 1955 that a Secretary of State visited the country. In a July 11th article in the Huffington Post, Bradley Klapper pointed out “Laos is the latest test case of the Obama administration’s efforts to “pivot” U.S. foreign policy away from the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The efforts follow a long period of estrangement between Washington and a former Cold War-era foe, and come as U.S. relations also warm with countries such as Myanmar and Vietnam.” When she came, she spent less than half-a-day there. But …