The two-day Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship in Washington from April 26 is regarded as a paradigm shift in the US President Barack Obama's leadership, says one of the three Malaysians invited to attend the summit. Dakhshinamoorthy Balakrishnan says Obama has taken the right move by giving presidential attention to a global force in democratising commerce, bringing Islamic and non-Islamic nations together under one roof.

After 14 months in office, President Barack Obama is looking at a cold and friendless world. That doesn’t seem to bother him one bit, because he’s the one who’s acting chilly. Obama has always been cool, aloof as well as hip. That quality is now making its mark on his diplomacy, as he dispenses with the kind of personal relationships that make history such a good read.

APDS Blogger: Justin Rashid

DOHA, QATAR --- In the beginning, there was The Speech.

After that, there was the letdown.

APDS Blogger: Paul Rockower

Now that the big Asia trip is history, it’s natural to judge it on the basis of known results from its biggest portion — Obama’s three days in China. For the American president, there were no obvious breakthroughs on exchange rates or trade, climate or human rights, so maybe this visit was not the most successful. On the other hand, viewed in the context of America’s recent history with East Asia, there was a certain welcome absence of drama. Expectations were managed, there was no brinkmanship. Maybe that could be considered an achievement.

An overseas trip by a U.S. president is always costly, logistically challenging, and full of colorful backdrops. President Obama’s trip to Japan, Singapore, China and Korea is no exception. If anything, there will be more excitement than usual, since it is his first trip to the region as President and there is still tremendous foreign public interest in this appealing, young, intelligent leader, his inspiring speeches, and his photogenic wife.

Why, then, is the mood so downbeat among the U.S. press corps — the “traveling press” — as they begin covering this trip?