Asia bids farewell to Barack Obama

The Pivot to Asia was one of the main focuses of Obama's foreign policies. With the election of Donald Trump, the US approach to Asia is expected to undergo a major change. A report released by The Asia Foundation warned that a leadership vacuum and even a nuclear arms race could start if the US withdraws forces from the region. It could also trigger massive destabilization of the regional order.

Obama tried to keep a balance when it came to US relations with China. His administration was tough with Beijing on China's apparent aggressive stance in the disputed South China Sea and the East Asian country's dismal human rights record, but continued to engage with Beijing on trade-related issues.

The US ties with the Philippines, Washington's key ally in the region, took a major blow when Rodrigo Duterte came to power in Manila last year. As a result, Obama's Asia pivot to thwart China's growing influence was also affected as Duterte aligned his country with Beijing. But the Philippine president has hinted that the Manila-Washington relations could warm up under Trump's presidency.

Despite his relentless efforts to curb the Afghan insurgency, Obama never actually got a grip on the situation. Obama intensified the drone war in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, which yielded significant results. But his administration failed to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. A fractured political system in Afghanistan also encumbered his efforts to bring stability to the country.

Obama urged Pakistani authorities to use their influence on the Taliban to coax the outfit to lay down arms and enter peace talks. His administration did put some sanctions on the Islamic country, but many say they weren't enough to put pressure on Islamabad. The US-Pakistani ties worsened further after US forces killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a covert operation in Abbottabad in 2011.

No other country in Asia maintained closer ties with Obama than India. Not only Washington and New Delhi increased bilateral trade during Obama's presidency, the two nations also inked several defense deals that irked India's regional rivals, China and Pakistan. The US and India also bolstered cooperation on the civil nuclear front, drawing sharp criticism from the regional powers.

The communist regime in North Korea continued to test Obama's diplomacy throughout his two terms in office. Pyongyang has conducted a number of nuclear and missile tests in the past few years. The Obama administration slapped sanctions on the North hoping that it would knuckle under the US pressure and come to the negotiating table. However, the sanctions didn't prove to be successful.