A year after his triumphant re-election, US President George W. Bush has suffered a number of domestic blows to his standing and is now trying to use foreign diplomacy to improve his image, analysts say. Many experts argue Bush is suffering from the second term syndrome -- as presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton famously did with various scandals and affairs.
The wounds of more than two years of conflict in Iraq, the damage from Hurricane Katrina and now a political scandal at the White House have undermined Bush's opinion poll standings.
Bush's tour to Latin America this week is seen as typical of his efforts to divert attention by heading abroad, even though his image remains poor in many other countries.
"Often in second terms, presidents concentrate more on foreign policy because what seems to happen is that their domestic authority tends to get undermined," said Russell Mead, a specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"They become more of a lame duck, the people in Congress and the Senate realize they are running for re-election but the president is not, so the political fortunes start to diverge," he added.
Besides his imminent visits to Argentina, Brazil and Panama, Bush has also lined up a tour of Asia from 17-21 November, that includes Japan, South Korea, China and Mongolia.
It is an impressive plunge into foreign diplomacy for a president who last year campaigned mainly for domestic reforms, including the tax and pension systems and cutting the runaway budget deficit.
Bush has suffered a trying week in which he saw the US troop death toll in Iraq hit 2,000, the humiliating withdrawal of his Supreme Court candidate Harriet Miers, and the indictment White House official Lewis Libby for making false statements and obstruction of justice in a CIA leak case.
"Often presidents when they are in trouble domestically will turn to international affairs. This is a way to exert some leadership" said Nelson Cunningham, former advisor to ex-presidential candidate John Kerry.
"Perhaps the president will see the trip to Latin America as a way to exert some leadership in a positive direction," he added.
Inter-American Dialogue institute vice president Michael Shifter sees it differently. He believes Bush has such a poor image abroad that he has little to gain from his marathon diplomacy in Latin America and Asia.
"Bush will be politically very weak when he arrives at Mar del Plata (Argentina, for an Americas trade summit). This is not a good time for him to attempt rebuilding a regional relationship that for the last few years has been deteriorating," Shifter said.
What critics labelled a slow and clumsy reaction to Hurricane Katrina made the United States look vulnerable, while the resignation of Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, has refocused attention on Bush's justification for the Iraq war.
But despite the damage, the United States continues to be a major player in the international arena, where it recently saw achievements in a series of areas.
North Korea has accepted in principal to give up its nuclear weapons program, while the UN Security Council has unanimously called on Syria to cooperate in the murder probe of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri.
And Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears increasingly isolated after his recent call for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
