The recent suspension of the debt limit allows Obama to refocus on the Asia-Pacific pivot and avoid further embarrassment in the region from fiscal crises in Washington. However, tensions among South Korea, China, and Japan as well as upcoming elections in Afghanistan and Iraq threaten this return to rebalancing. Obama has an opportunity on an upcoming Asia trip to reaffirm U.S. leadership, but maintaining focus on Asia will be challenging given ongoing volatility in the Middle East.