After the dust has settled from contentious days of uneven diplomacy in Phnom Penh at the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the differences between the United States and China continue to stand in stark contrast. Even the presence of US President Barack Obama has been unable to budge negotiators to resolve critical regional military and economic security issues, including nasty territorial disputes over the resource-rich South China Sea. While there was some minor progress on trade partnership talks, there were notable failures.