President Barack Obama's "pivot" to China's neighborhood and the "reset" in relations with Russia are producing limited results for foreign policy initiatives that are designed to improve America's standing with its former Cold War rivals.

Obama has managed to increase cooperation with Moscow on nuclear arms and shore up U.S. partnerships in Asia to counter China.

But on other questions crucial to U.S. interests, those countries have proved stubbornly unyielding. The overtures have left Obama vulnerable to charges that he is being naive or too accommodating to both China and Russia.

From nuclear-armed North Korea to potentially nuclear-armed Iran, the Obama administration has won only lip-service pronouncements of agreement on the endgames, but little more.

China and Russia also have blocked Obama's attempts to get U.N. action against Syria's government.