In an interview on US President Barack Obama’s trip to Asia, SMU Associate Professor of Political Science John Donaldson said that the purpose of President Obama’s four-country Asia tour is mainly to promote and strengthen Washington’s “pivot to Asia” strategy. He said that while the US has recently placed much emphasis on its relationship with Asia, many scholars, politicians and other experts are of the opinion that the US pivot towards Asia has had few concrete outcomes so far. Prof Donaldson also shared his thoughts on Sino-US tensions in relation to the Philippines’ increasingly tense territorial disputes with China as well as Mr Obama’s efforts to  improve ties with economically successful, moderate-Muslim Malaysia as the US battles image problems in the Islamic world.