As the administration of US President Donald Trump enters its tenth month, one of the most frequently asked questions is whether he will try to take down his predecessor's legacy in Southeast Asia. The answer is both no, and yes.
The negative answer comes first as there are no indications for now that Mr Trump is doing so with the countries in Southeast Asia. What he has done so far is to provide a new sense of rejuvenation and trust individually to allies and friends of the US. Since he is a transactional president, he has been successful in dealing with selected countries, namely, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
These countries are essentially the security first responders for core American interests in this region. Among them, there are two military allies, two members of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (multi-lateral agreements between the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore), and two new strategic partners. While each country serves specific strategic interests in mainland and maritime Southeast Asia, their combined assets have a singular purpose -- to preserve and enhance American power in the region.
Kavi Chongkittavorn is a veteran journalist on regional affairs.
It is the first time since the end of World War II that the US's preeminent position has been challenged to its core. Mr Trump understands this downward trend and his security team is doing whatever it can to remedy the dire situation.
When Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrives in Washington DC on Oct 23 for a five-day visit, Mr Trump will complete his Southeast Asian policy including preparations for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting in Vietnam and the East Asia Summit in the Philippines, both of which are scheduled for next month.
Since May, he has met leaders from Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. In May, Vice President Mike Pence stopped over in Jakarta and met Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Early next month, Mr Trump will meet all 10 Asean members for the first time at the East Asia Summit and the US-Asean summit in the Philippines.
Of the six, Singapore is the most important all-weather friend in Southeast Asia, given its willingness to accommodate US strategic interests without being a treaty ally. This time, Mr Lee's visit will be closely scrutinised because it comes hot on the heels of his trip last month to China. After brief diplomatic spats in recent years, Singapore and China struck a new rapport and understanding based on their 27-year-old ties.
Mr Lee's visit will wrap up Mr Trump's strategic engagement with all key Southeast Asian countries. Recent Washington visits by Malaysian and Thai leaders were successful, and their joint statements reflected strong commitments to US interests both in trade and security. Stronger and healthier relations with these two countries would benefit the long-term US interests in the age of a rising China.
Within the region, Thailand and Malaysia also have closer ties with China. Although they employ hedging strategies against the major powers, there are some differences. Kuala Lumpur is more active in projecting its strategic values than Bangkok, which is rather passive.
That helped explain why Thailand's relations with the US have been frozen for the past three years until the White House decided to take a new path. Thai decision-makers responded well to goodwill gestures but not to condescending ones.
Quite frankly, Kuala Lumpur is often steps ahead of Bangkok's hyper-cautious moves. For instance, in trade and human trafficking, Malaysia lobbied hard with sustained and effective campaigns in Congress as well as joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to escape US punishment.
In the case of North Korea, Kuala Lumpur is willing to go beyond the UN resolutions and Asean-agreed positions and actions. Malaysia plans to shut down its North Korean embassy.
Bangkok, even as one of the region's oldest allies of the US, remains reserved both on trade and US-led sanctions against North Korea, as the latest joint statement issued on Oct 2 showed.
For the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte will have a tete-a-tete with Mr Trump at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, in November and then at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, so he will not visit Washington in the near future.
Despite Mr Duterte's fierce rhetoric against US criticism of his anti-drug campaign, US-Philippines relations are rock solid. As a traditional ally and former coloniser, the US has a soft spot for the Philippines, and what emerges from the next month's encounter will only reinforce and strengthen bilateral ties.
Most interesting is how Mr Trump places Vietnam in the overall scheme of relations in Southeast Asia.
Under the Obama administration, the arms sanctions in place for over five decades were lifted, effectively transforming Vietnam into one of the US's leading comprehensive strategic partners in Southeast Asia. Now, Vietnam is a major trading partner and a free-trade advocate.
During his May visit to the White House, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc pledged a commercial deal with the US worth US$8 billion. On maritime security, their joint statement stressed the importance of refraining from the militarisation of disputed areas in the South China Sea.
Finally, we come to US-Indonesia relations. As the world's third-largest democracy, Indonesia's political stature has increased. In 2015, their ties were upgraded to a strategic partnership in an effort to promote Indonesia's growing international role.
Using personal diplomacy and a bilateral approach, Mr Trump has provided assurances and security commitments to all six key Asean members, each uniquely designed, which will serve to balance China's rising influence.
For the second answer regarding Mr Trump's effort to erase Mr Obama's legacy, he could do so by imposing sanctions on Myanmar. It was under Mr Obama that US-Myanmar relations were normalised and prospered.
It was one of his diplomatic triumphs and was widely noted. In past months, however, Mr Trump has dealt serious blows to Mr Obama's achievements in free trade, denuclearisation of Iran, and climate change, among others.
It remains to be seen how Mr Trump will approach Barack Obama's legacy in Southeast Asia when he visits Da Nang and Clark Air Base in November. At both leaders' meetings, Mr Obama's imprint still looms large.