When President Obama visits two crucial democratic nations in Asia next week, he has an opportunity to resolve uncertainty about his Asia policy by revitalizing George Bush's freedom and growth agenda in the world's most dynamic region. The trip will send the president to Australia, long one of America's staunchest allies in the world, and Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation and a new democracy. While there, he has the opportunity to unabashedly embrace Asia's democratic movement and establish a new strategic relationship with key Asian states. Doing so will end America's aimless Asia policy, reinvigorate Washington's alliance with Japan and send a clear message to China, North Korea and Myanmar about America's vision for Asia's future.

Indonesia was one of the key regional states in the 20th century, and its importance will become global in this century. With a population of 240 million spread over 6,000 islands, and comprised of 300 ethnic groups speaking nearly 750 languages, a successful democratic Indonesia would be the India of the 21st century: a multiethnic, multilingual society increasingly embracing liberal values.

After the resignation of long-term leader Suharto during the throes of the 1998 Asian currency crisis, Indonesian leaders have reformed the government and military, allowed independence for East Timor, and resolved the Aceh armed separatist conflict. Current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has focused on development issues since taking office in 2004 and increased Indonesia's outreach to democratic nations, including the United States and Japan. Although it is the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has a per capita GDP of barely $4,000 and faces the problems of all developing states in raising standards of living and modernizing the vast country's infrastructure.

Yet Indonesia has also increasingly played a leading role in Southeast Asia, being a charter member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other regional multilateral initiatives like the East Asian Summit. It has signed a free trade agreement with Japan and, as a member of Asean, has taken a lead in environmental issues, which is not surprising for a country containing some of the most important ecosystems on Earth. A quick glance at the map underlines Indonesia's strategic importance. The country stretches from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific, and contains the world's most crucial waterways, including the Malacca and Lombok Straits. Having suffered devastating Islamist terrorist attacks, Indonesia has also cooperated closely with Washington on antiterrorist operations in Asia.

In contrast, Australia has long been one of the most developed nations in Asia and a close U.S. ally, though not particularly involved in Asia's regional initiatives until recently. Yet, given the country's increasing economic dependence on the China market and concerns about America's long-term posture in the Pacific, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's administration has sought to improve relations with Beijing even while attempting to maintain an indigenous military hedge against growing Chinese naval power.

Mr. Rudd has gone further, proposing a new "Asia-Pacific Community," which would deal comprehensively with regional economic, political, and security issues. Rudd's organization would include the U.S., India, and Russia, in addition to traditional Asian participants. Behind this talk of a new era of cooperation undoubtedly lies the worry that evolving trends in Asia do not favor a continued reliance on Washington to maintain stability in the Asia-Pacific.

Asian nations have openly expressed their concern at Washington's lack of involvement in the region in the past decade. The U.S. has stood on the sidelines as new free trade agreements are reached and multilateral initiatives proliferated. The growth of China's military power, in particular its navy, has worried Asian nations large and small—especially in areas of overlapping territorial claims such as the South China Sea. What was supposed to become the "Asian Century" has been diverted into the "Middle East Decade" in the minds of many in Asia who had hoped to use their growing economic power to focus global attention on their region.

Mr. Obama now has a rare opportunity to revitalize a freedom and growth agenda in Asia, if he wants to do so. Over the past two decades, democratic systems have taken firm root in South Korea, Taiwan and Mongolia. Yet democracy remains imperiled in Thailand, fragile in the Philippines, and still evolving in Indonesia, Malaysia and other states. Poverty rates in East Asia and the Pacific tumbled by over 25% in the quarter century after 1980, largely due to the gains made by market liberalization and expanded trade, yet further development of the middle class in Asian democracies is needed.

Every year brings further evidence that non-democratic regimes are not evolving, while democratic ones are in the vanguard of trying to explore how to maintain stability in Asia. Mr. Obama's trip should lay to rest questions about his goals in Asia and signal a new commitment to supporting liberal regimes and maintaining America's crucial role in the Pacific.

Mr. Obama should not seek to maintain the status quo but should unveil a bold agenda in Indonesia and Australia to use American resources to work with Asian nations to enhance maritime security, spread best standards in business and industry, reduce corruption and strengthen human rights and civil society. He should announce a new strategic relationship with Indonesia, whose goal is to overcome its reluctance to work more closely with Washington.

Establishing regular, high-level dialogues between Jakarta and Washington can also be a first step for a more meaningful American engagement with Southeast Asia. The U.S. should further develop a "liberty and prosperity" roundtable, gathering Asia's old and new liberal democracies annually, perhaps headed by Japan and Indonesia, to promote a vision of Asia's future that champions free markets, civil society and security consultations. For Washington, this would be a way to reinvigorate America's half century alliance with Japan, to encourage South Korea to play a regional role commensurate with its economic standing, and to further cement ties between India and its neighbors.

Promoting liberal values is firmly in U.S. interests and can lead to the day when a permanent American presence is less needed in the region. Mr. Obama is showing the right instincts in his choice of countries to visit. Now he should take advantage of his opportunity with a specific agenda for freedom and growth.

Michael Auslin is a resident scholar at AEI.

Photo Credit: iStockphoto/Hsing-Wen Hs