Obama Speaks With World Leaders
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Barack, Foreign Policy, The WorldLooks like Barack Obama is hitting the ground running:
After making the first key appointment to his administration, Obama spoke by telephone with the leaders of Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Mexico and South Korea, hastening the shift in political gravity away from President George W. Bush.
The financial crisis, the Afghanistan war, climate change and the North Korean and Iranian nuclear crises dominated the talks, according to accounts from the various capitals.
Is it just me, or is the world really eager to be rid of Bush? Obviously, it’s typical for world leaders to speak to the new president-elect, but it sounds like our allies are moving quickly to establish a working relationship with Obama. I’m sure, like many Americas, they are expecting big changes.
The question is: how much will Obama end up disappointing? Or did Bush leave the bar so low that our allies will find Obama an improvement even if he continues most of our current international policies? We’ll see.
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November 7th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I think Obama by merely his temperment and his willingness to listen and think things through will be a vast improvement over Bush. The fact that he’ll be willing to listen to the words of these other leaders and address them with respect will be more than enough in the first few months.
November 7th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Everyone is ready to get rid of Bush. And it will be interesting to see if Obama’s masterful use of the English language on the American culture has the same effect in other cultures. Given his international upbringing, it’s a safe bet that Obama understands more cultures than Bush did going into the White House.
The tough thing is that Obama is still going to have to do things that international leaders won’t like; he’s the President of the US, not President of the world, and his primary responsibility is his country. China’s economic boom has been a direct result of that sort of “Take care of the nation first, then reach beyond borders” mentality.
Will he launch more incursions against our enemies within the Pakistani border? Will he escalate the efforts in Afghanistan, even if that nation doesn’t want us there? And what of Russia? Lots of big choices ahead.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
The question is: will most of these world leaders focus on all the things that President Obama does which they find to be improvements? Things like actually listening to their concerns, stopping torture, moving to leave Iraq, etc. Or will they focus on the things that he does because that is required by American foreign policy, no matter who is in chanrge — things like ramping up in Afghanistan and the Pakistani border. Both opportunities will be available to them; it depends on what they want to concentrate on.
Actually, I expect that there will be a split decision. Most of the world will find the new administration a great relief, and that will keep them relatively happy for the first year or more. But some (Russia? Pakistan? Sudan? North Korea?) will find lots to complain about.
November 7th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Is it such an indictment against President Bush if the leaders of nations such as Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Russia ect… are eager to get rid of him? Sure its not just those countries, but still worth thinking about.
I wonder if Obama will press other nations, such as Iran, to listen to our concerns, like stopping torture, moving to leave Iraq, ect…or does Obama even concern himself over such things? Is it more important for America’s image to be repaired in the eyes of despotic regimes, or is it more important that these countries change their ways?
November 7th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Well considering Obama can pronounce their names they’re probably looking forward to talking to him. And Jimmy, i totally agree, we should stop torturing people.
November 7th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Cliché Gandhi quotation, but:
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
It applies on the national level just as much as it does on the personal level.