President Barack Obama. AP
SEOUL鈥擣oreign policy crises are chasing Barack Obama around Asia, drawing his attention from a key region and providing fodder for domestic critics who see him as a toothless leader outmanoeuvered by foes like Russia鈥檚 Vladimir Putin.
To put in proportion the problems piled on the US president鈥檚 plate, consider that a potential North Korean nuclear test and boiling tensions between his top Asian allies and China don鈥檛 even top his list of foreign policy headaches.
Given global turmoil, the US president was never likely to be able to keep both eyes on Asia during this week鈥檚 trip.
And so it has proven, as a Cold War-style showdown with the Kremlin and a crumbling Middle East peace process challenge Obama鈥檚 chosen legacy-building narrative of locking in America as a preeminent Pacific power.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have the luxury of choosing just one problem at a time,鈥� Obama told a South Korean journalist who wondered if his attention on North Korea was being diverted by events in Ukraine.
Crises have been Obama鈥檚 constant companion since he arrived in the White House in 2009 during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
If his current four nation odyssey鈥攊tself a make-up for a trip that fell prey to domestic political dysfunction last year鈥攊s a guide, crises will also usher him out of office in two-and-a-half years鈥� time.
On Friday night, Obama rushed from dinner with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye to convene a conference call with European leaders aimed at toughening sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.
Then North Korea unveiled late Friday its latest headline-grabbing seizure of an American citizen who was detained at immigration.
Fuming
Big chunks of Obama鈥檚 news conferences with Park and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were devoted to long explanations of his plans to thwart Putin or vows to stick with Middle East peacemaking.
鈥淭hat was a long statement, I must say,鈥� Park chided, after a detailed Obama answer on Ukraine on Friday.
White House officials would dearly like some glowing US media reviews of the tour.
But the president鈥檚 case was not helped when he left Japan without a market access deal in a dispute blocking the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact 鈥� a project that would adorn his legacy of 鈥渞ebalancing鈥� American power towards Asia
The TPP鈥檚 importance was clear when senior officials rushed to set the narrative on Air Force One as Obama flew to Seoul, insisting a 鈥渂reakthrough鈥� pointing the way to an eventual resolution had been charted in round-the-clock talks in Japan.
Tough tour
The prevailing media frame of Obama鈥檚 second term is of a diminished leader buffeted by political winds he can no longer redirect and world events crowding his Asian tour deepened that perception.
CNN blared: 鈥淥bama鈥檚 tough Asian tour鈥� in an on-screen graphic.
Politico Playbook, a popular tip sheet for Washington insiders, asked readers: 鈥淏e honest, did you even know Obama was away?鈥�
On one level, Washington chatter matters little to Obama, who never has to face voters again.
And while it may be ignored back home, Obama has sent clear messages of his intent to defend Japan 鈥� to elite audiences in Tokyo and Beijing.
Obama鈥檚 visit is getting big play in Asian media鈥攄ominating front pages wherever he goes.
People close to Obama say he can鈥檛 bear the short-termism and frivolity of Washington politics.
In Asia by contrast, he is playing the long game with his legacy on the line: but his time is short and leaders like China鈥檚 President Xi Jinping, Abe and Park will likely still be around after he is pensioned off in January 2017.
But the reviews back home do matter to Democrats desperate to cling onto the Senate鈥攖he president鈥檚 approval ratings are a critical driver of their prospects at mid-term elections in November.
Republicans and media critics have jumped on Obama鈥檚 foreign policy woes to sketch a caricature of a president who blinked on striking Syria and now sees adversaries ready to step over his red lines all over the world.
鈥淧resident Putin is only emboldened by empty rhetoric, so it is time for the administration to back up their talk by immediately putting in place tough sanctions against Russian banks and energy companies,鈥� said Senator Bob Corker, one of Obama鈥檚 more measured Republican critics.
Obama is tired of all the 鈥渨eak president鈥� buzz and a perception that only military force provides a 鈥渄efinitive answer鈥� in foreign policy.
鈥淵ou would think, given that we鈥檝e just gone through鈥攁 decade of war, that that assumption would be subject to some questioning,鈥� he said Friday.