I agree with you on the hypocritical nature of the NC human rights aspect and building a relationship with the Vietnamese. But we have always held our on population to a higher standard and made niceties with foreign powers that don't do the same. We both know that's just the way the world works.
But I have to disagree with the foreign policy aspect of this. What key allies do we really have in the Middle East? The Sauds, UAE, Qatar? The same countries that put on a friendly face to our diplomatic approach and then their population secretly funds al-Qaeda and ISIS alike. As you said the Middle East is burning, but no amount of American diplomatic intervention is going to fix this part of the world. Most are theocracies not living in modern times and when the oil money dries up for the others they will plunge further into darkness. I'm not saying move away entirely from this region. We can't with ISIS and al-Qaeda still causing havoc but most of these countries outside of Jordan and Turkey resent us. I think its smart to begin to move away from this area of the world and focus on China who is clearly our biggest rival in the future.
And it may be a few islands now, but the Chinese military buildup is real and a larger navy (they are already building an aircraft carrier through stolen U.S. plans) for them may be a thing of the future. Yes, Vietnam and the Philippines are largely undeveloped but South Korea, India, Taiwan and Japan aren't and they are just as nervous. For the U.S. to keep its current position in this world we need to keep China in check. Having allies in that area of the world can only help. And even after Obama is long gone I think the pivot towards Asia is will continue to happen because a lot of people recognize the importance that area will play in the future.
