International Relations: Biden, Gates and Clinton Abroad

There’ll be a lot more “out of office” emails in Washington this week as key members of the Obama administration are on trips in South Asia, Asia and the Arabian peninsula. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in China today and will travel to South Korea and Japan later in the week. Vice President Joe Biden has just left Afghanistan and is in Pakistan today; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Qatar, continuing her tour of Arab states after her surprise trip to Yemen yesterday. What do these three top officials hope to accomplish abroad, and what challenges do they face?

BBC reporters fill us in on the diplomatic challenges and goals that each hopes to achieve. With Martin Patience in China, Aleem Maqbool in Pakistan and Mark Landler in Oman.