Obamamania Is Alive and Well on Indonesian Beach: William Pesek

Commentary by William Pesek

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Detta is all of 11 years old and the precocious Indonesian youth is an avid Barack Obama fan. She's wearing the ``Go Obama'' T-shirt to prove it.

``He's her hero, the greatest!'' says her father, who sells pirated shirts and DVDs on the island of Bali and will only give his surname, Subuowo. ``Do you think he'll win? We hope so.''

There's a reason many in Asia eagerly await new U.S. leadership: The region feels neglected by the world's sole superpower. Many Asians want the next president to pursue a more collaborative, forward-looking relationship with the most dynamic economic region after the November election.

``You have to wonder about the wisdom of taking the region of the world that's growing the fastest and gaining so much influence for granted,'' says Roberto de Ocampo, who was the Philippine finance minister during the mid-1990s.

U.S. trade with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, has barely budged since 2000. That has allowed China to blanket Asia with an aggressive -- and successful -- charm offensive. China's 10 percent-plus growth has reduced Japan's importance in Asia and created a counterweight to U.S. influence in the region.

When U.S. President George W. Bush has engaged Asia, it has been about terrorist threats. Asians care about security; they care just as much about raising living standards through fairer trade and a more equal relationship with the biggest economy.

Pulling for Obama

Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Jakarta, is especially well-known in these parts. Chatting to business people in Australia, India, Indonesia, Singapore or South Korea, it's clear many outside the U.S. are pulling for Obama.

Not that it means much to many Americans. Among the things that sank Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004 was a perception that foreigners wanted him to defeat Bush. So the fascination with which many outside the U.S. view the 46-year-old Democratic nominee is worth considering.

It was apparent recently when I met businessman Emirsyah Satar. A group of his peers introduced him to me as ``a former classmate of Barack Obama.''

They didn't refer to Satar as president director of PT Garuda Indonesia, the nation's biggest airline. Nor did anyone say he's a former bigwig at PT Bank Danamon Indonesia, the country's fifth-largest lender by assets. He was simply Obama's one-time schoolmate.

``I guess it's my claim to fame,'' Satar says.

Losing Asia

Obamamania also has spread across Japan from the city of Obama. In recent months, the city of 32,000 in central Japan has been the site of celebrations drawing a group of hula dancers calling themselves ``Obama Girls.'' Officials there are looking to use the notoriety to promote the local economy.

When meeting Japanese for the first time, questions about Obama come up without fail. The same is true traveling around Asia. While hardly a scientific poll, it seems clear that many Asians expect Obama to reach out to a curious region more than Republican frontrunner John McCain might.

That may very well be a misreading of things. Republicans tend to support free trade more than many Democrats and any move toward protectionism by Obama could prove ominous for Asia.

Whatever happens in November, there's little doubt that the Bush administration dropped the proverbial ball in Asia.

Mending U.S.-Asia relations should be a top priority for the next occupant of the White House. The U.S. needs Asia's capital, commodities, goods, labor and cooperation on everything from climate change to security to diplomacy.

`Post-American World'

As Fareed Zakaria argues in his new book ``The Post-American World,'' it's becoming harder for the U.S. to thrive in the globalization age. Upstart economies have learned from the U.S.'s economic model and are competing as never before.

``This is a book not about the decline of America but rather about the rise of everyone else,'' he writes. The book is also noteworthy because Obama was seen carrying it last month.

``The real story of the last few years is the movement of economic influence away from the developed world toward the developing one,'' says Javier Santiso, director of the OECD Development Centre in Paris. ``That will only continue and it will be disorienting for many. It will be the same way for the U.S., too.''

Part of Obama's allure in Asia reflects policy, particularly his pledge to end the war in Iraq and engage more in diplomacy than muscle-flexing. Part of it is generational. Obama is a quarter of a century younger than McCain, and many Asian nations boast young populations.

Observers such as Kishore Mahbubani, a former Singaporean diplomat and dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, also point to ethnicity. Seeing the son of a black Kenyan father and a white Kansan mother become president could raise the U.S.'s stock around the globe. Many might whisper, approvingly, ``Only in America,'' he says.

Whoever replaces Bush should cast his eyes immediately in Asia's direction. The costs of taking this region for granted are already being counted, as even those making a living on Indonesia's beaches will tell you.

(William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: William Pesek in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, at wpesek@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 8, 2008 13:01 EDT

		Email this article Printer friendly format