Barack Obama’s second term has seen a number of foreign policy breakthroughs, including the lifting of America’s long-standing arms embargo against Vietnam just this week. These five facts explain why Obama’s overtures have worked in some countries but not in others.
1. Vietnam
For years the U.S. maintained that lifting its arms embargo was contingent on Vietnam improving its human rights record. There’s no compelling evidence that substantial progress has been made, but the shifting geopolitical balance in Asia has shifted Washington’s thinking, and China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea (SCS) has put neighboring countries on edge. The SCS’s strategic …read more
Source: Time
