Abstract
President Barack Obama’s mid-November 2012 post-re-election travel to Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thailand, including attendance at the East Asia Summit (EAS) and United States-ASEAN Leaders Meeting, marks three important “firsts” for a sitting American president: the first bilateral visits to Myanmar and Cambodia, the first mainland Southeast Asia-only trip, and the first Southeast Asia-only trip. Even more significant is the growing structural importance being accorded to all of Southeast Asia in the context of a broader American rebalance or “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific region. The emphasis on Southeast Asia in the U.S. rebalance to Asia arguably constitutes the most distinctive element of the overall strategy — next only to the inclusion of India. The opportunities and constraints for U.S.-Southeast Asia relations in the immediate years ahead can best be appreciated by understanding how the rebalance strategy implicates Southeast Asia, and how Southeast Asia is critical to its success.
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