YANGON (Reuters) – It won’t be mistaken for a Nixon-goes-to-China kind of moment.

But President Barack Obama’s visit to Myanmar on Monday sometimes felt like a return to an earlier era of presidential diplomacy – and his aides were determined to make sure that no one missed its historic significance.

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – President Barack Obama urged Cambodian leader Hun Sen on Monday to hold fair elections and release political prisoners as he took a firm line on human rights abuses that activists say have increased in recent years in the Southeast Asian country.

Fresh from a visit to Myanmar, where many freedoms have blossomed in the country’s dramatic return to democracy, Obama told Hun Sen that Cambodia’s record on human rights would be an impediment to deeper ties with the United States.

YANGON (Reuters) – Barack Obama has become the first serving U.S. president to visit Myanmar, arriving on Monday for a trip that will attempt to strike a balance between praising the government’s progress in shaking off military rule and pressing it for further reforms.

His plane landed in the former capital Yangon, where he will meet President Thein Sein, a former junta member who has spearheaded reforms since taking office in March 2011, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the struggle against military rule and, like Obama, is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She is now a lawmaker.

BANGKOK (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama denied on Sunday his upcoming trip to Myanmar was an endorsement of the government there, calling it an acknowledgement of the progress made in shaking off decades of military rule and encouragement for it go further.

On Monday, Obama will become the first serving U.S. president to visit Myanmar, also called Burma, part of a three-country Asian tour that, as his first post-election trek abroad, will show he is serious about shifting the U.S. strategic focus eastwards.

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Poised to become the first U.S. head of state to travel to Myanmar, President Barack Obama on Monday will attempt to strike a balance between praising the government’s progress in shaking off military rule and pressing it for further reforms.

Obama will meet President Thein Sein, a former junta member who has spearheaded reforms since taking office in March 2011, and famed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the struggle against military rule and, like Obama, is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She is now a lawmaker.

BANGKOK (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Sunday it would be “preferable” to avoid an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza but put the onus on Egypt and Turkey to get Hamas to halt cross-border rocket fire, saying Israel had a right to defend itself from attack.

Obama, weighing in with his first comments on the crisis, made clear he was firmly on the side of U.S. ally Israel against the Palestinian militant group, but he also seemed to appeal to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow more time for Middle East leaders to rein in Hamas.

BANGKOK (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Sunday it would be “preferable” to avoid an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza but put the onus on Egypt and Turkey to get Hamas to halt cross-border rocket fire, saying Israel had a right to defend itself from attack.

Obama, weighing in with his first comments on the crisis, made clear he was firmly on the side of U.S. ally Israel against the Palestinian militant group, but he also seemed to appeal to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow more time for Middle East leaders to rein in Hamas.

BANGKOK, Nov 18 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama kicked
off a three-country Asian tour with a visit to Thailand on
Sunday, using his first post-election trek overseas to try to
show he is serious about shifting the U.S. strategic focus
eastwards.

Obama’s itinerary will include a landmark visit to
once-isolated Myanmar and an East Asia summit in Cambodia as he
seeks to recalibrate U.S. economic and security commitments to
counter China’s influence at a time when America is
disentangling itself from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BANGKOK (Reuters) – President Barack Obama kicked off a three-country Asia tour with a visit to Thailand on Sunday, using his first post-election trek overseas to try to show he is serious about shifting the U.S. strategic focus eastwards.

Obama’s itinerary will include a landmark visit to once-isolated Myanmar and an East Asia summit in Cambodia as he seeks to recalibrate U.S. economic and security commitments to counter China’s influence at a time when America is disentangling itself from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s first trip abroad since winning a second term was to be a chance to bask in the glow of his election triumph and promote what aides have touted as a legacy-making U.S. strategic shift toward Asia.

It is, though, shaping up as something less than a victory lap.

Obama’s efforts to persuade Asian partners of his commitment to the region could be undercut by deepening instability in the Middle East, lingering tensions with China at a time when a new leadership is taking over in Beijing and big distractions at home, including a looming fiscal crisis and a national security scandal.