“Would I might rouse the Lincoln in you all.” – Vachel Lindsay
The inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama is making headlines around the world today and Washington is preparing for a massive influx of people from all over the US who want to be present at this historic event. The charismatic Obama succeeds the gauche Bush who has been described by many newspapers around the world as the “worst president the USA has had”. The Iraq war, a controversial re-election, the response to Katrina, the lying to Congress, the personal exemption of himself from the laws of the country he was president of, the unleashing of a “war on terrorism”, that if anything made things worse than better, and many more such acts have made outgoing President Bush a good contender for the title of “Worst President”. His presidency is ending with one of the worst economic crises to hit the world since the 1930s depression. His popularity is sinking to new lows not seen since the Nixon years (now, there’s another contender for the title of “Worst President”!).
Now that Obama-fever has swept the globe there is great hope that the incoming US president will lead the world into a new crisis-free era. The “Obama Effect” is being hailed as being enough to shorten the global recession. Analysts are more realistic and have warned that we should temper our expectations for his rule somewhat. Obama has already planned two trips to Europe in April for attending an international summit on the economic crisis and a NATO alliance meeting. European politicians are optimistic that more cooperation will be possible with the Obama administration than what has occurred with the Bush administration. This seems to be the general opinion in most countries around the world, with an average of 67% of people polled in various countries believing that Obama will strengthen America's relations abroad. Questioned about what the priorities of Obama should be, the answers were hardly surprising: The global financial crisis should be top priority, followed by pulling US troops out of Iraq, tackling climate change, brokering peace in the Middle East, improving social conditions at home, the health system, etc.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was one of the few world leaders to express skepticism of the “Obama Effect”. Putin stated with Slavic pragmatism that: “I am deeply convinced that the biggest disappointments are born out of big expectations”. I would certainly agree, and once the celebrations are over, once the early days of the “honeymoon” are over, once Obama begins to tackle the immense problems that he finds on his desk (and no doubt finds a few skeletons in the White House cupboards, also), the immensity of the task ahead of him will become manifest. Although I have confidence in Obama’s ability, the situation worldwide is not one that will be repaired with a few signatures here and there, a couple of state visits in a few countries and the passing of a few bills through Congress.
Barack Obama has a momentous task ahead of him. This is possibly the worst time that a President Elect has been in the position of assuming power in the most powerful political office in the world. Decisive action, immense diplomacy, boldness coupled with sensitivity, tact and moderate views, tolerance and goodwill are some of the many traits and qualities that Obama need resort to in order to deal with the many political, economic and social wildfires that are raging around the world. I only wish that the “Obama Effect” will help. My experience and logic say that things will get a lot worse before they get better – my innate optimism and hopeful nature want to believe that things can only get better, and they will begin to do so soon…
No comments:
Post a Comment