If President Obama was trying to revive his approval ratings with his foreign tour and dance demonstrations, he’s heading in the wrong direction. First, he struck out in South Korea on getting a badly needed Free Trade Agreement ratified. Now he’s struck out again in the G-20 Summit where he was unable to convince world leaders to approve US currency policy changes and to put pressure on China to stop manipulating their currency.

While there are no guarantees in international negotiations, the President’s inability to build consensus with foreign leaders can be traced to his administration’s disengagement on trade policies. Worse, world leaders have rejected America’s fiscal policies. Like most of us, the world leaders are skeptical that the Federal Reserve System’s creation of “vapor paper” is the right decision; and they are convinced that these policies are making America a less reliable partner. They know first-hand what happens when a country prints billions of dollars of currency to address a monetary crisis. It doesn’t work and weakens the country.

If the President hoped that scheduling a foreign trip after being trounced in the elections would give him some breathing space and distract the American people, he’s sadly mistaken. In fact, it’s done the opposite. The strength the US once enjoyed on the global stage has waned, and only a change at the top can reverse the direction.