The president is on his first official trip to Asia. Unfortunately, his agenda appears focused on reinforcing the status quo-"strengthening" the usual ties with the usual allies and forging an "enduring" American presence. Worse, the administration is dedicated to maintaining and even expanding Washington's Cold War era security ties.

The United States achieved its dominant position in East Asia in the aftermath of World War II. Washington defeated Japan and created a network of alliances to both prevent any imperial Japanese renaissance and contain Soviet and, later, Chinese expansion. The Cold War with China, which went unrecognized for three decades, and North Korea, which remains unrecognized after six decades, was very chilly indeed.

But that world has largely disappeared. Japan has recovered and created the world's number two economy. The Soviet Union is gone. Maoist China lives on only in the late dictator's ubiquitous image. Vietnam has joined the global ec...