COMMENT When Air Force One lands in Malaysia, US President Barack Obama will be stepping out to a country that has not changed much since his first visit last year.

The same prime minister will be greeting him, with a firm handshake and wide grin, to convey to the world’s most powerful man that the country’s most powerful leader is seated solidly in the saddle.

But Obama comes from the “land of the free and the home of the brave”, where presidents will be grilled thoroughly for any misconduct while in office...