Since Barack Obama came into office US foreign policy has gone through some considerable changes. There has been an increase in both pragmatism and idealism. But so far it has proved hard to reverse the negative image of the United States in the international arena and its global power appears to be diminishing.

Over the past year the new US government has sought to use "smart power", a combination of hard and soft power based on diplomacy and persuasion. They have also stressed the importance of dialogue with other countries. The Obama administration has developed positive cooperation with countries such as China, Russia and India. It agreed to establish the positive, cooperative and comprehensive bilateral relations with China and launched the Sino-US strategic and economic dialogues. It rejuvenated relations with Russia by declaring plans to drop the missile defense shield plan in Eastern Europe and resuming the US-Russia talks on nuclear arms reduction. A high profile and well received visit from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later in November pushed US-India strategic cooperative relations to a new level.

Obama and other senior US officials have frequently visited and maintained regular contact with nations that they have generally regarded as political rivals. Obama admitted that US policy towards Cuba over the last half a century has been a failure. He is now set to change the US-Cuba ties. He met with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez and promoted non-governmental diplomacy with Iran as well trying to solve the Iran nuclear issue through continual sanctions and negotiations. After about six months of futile efforts, attempts to solve the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsular, the US administration finally took a step forward and sent its special representative to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Obama's government has also reached out to Burma.

The Obama administration has paid greater attention to developing countries than previous US governments. It swore to "return to Asia", called for dialogue with Africa, and claimed there would be a "new beginning" with the entire Muslim world. In world affairs the White House called for "a nuclear free world", a fight against climate change and stressed the importance of the G20 summit which took place as a response to the global financial crisis. Furthermore, the US proposed to hold the UN Security Council Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation summit during this year's UN General Assembly meeting. The summit was presided over by Obama and passed the Resolution 1887.

Despite the efforts of the Obama administration, the US role in the world is declining. The US is worried about the rise of China potentially damaging their level of worldwide dominance. Therefore, many challenges remain in building strategic mutual trust between the US and China. It is also doubtful whether the US and Russia can cooperate as equal partners. The US scrapped its missile defense shield plan in Eastern Europe but announced it will build a more extensive shield in Europe.

The US is also confronted with anti-terrorism issues and the prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation. As the US troops withdrew from Iraqi cities the Obama administration announced it would send another 30000 troops to Afghanistan. In order not to be mired in another war the White House declared its exit plan, which aroused widespread debate.

The Obama administration has been powerless to resolve issues regarding the North Korea and Iran's position on nuclear weapons. Both the North Korea and Iran rejected a number of resolutions made by the UN Security Council. And despite efforts made by Obama and US senior officials, the US failed to play a leading role at the Copenhagen Climate Conference. As the world's only super power, America's capacity in shaping the world is declining.

(This article was first published in Chinese in the Xinmin Evening Paper on?December 22, 2009 and translated by Zhang Ming'ai.)