http://www.huffingtonpost.com/derek-shearer/the-shout-heard-round-the_b_145470.htmlDerek Shearer
Posted November 21, 2008 | 10:21 AM (EST)
The Shout Heard Round the World: Obama as Global Leader
On election night, when the TV returns made clear that Barack Obama had been elected the 44th President, a great shout of joy erupted from the hundreds of Occidental students gathered in the union. Faculty living near campus said they could hear the roar from the crowd, ecstatic that their candidate (and an alum of the college) had won. A shout of joy could also be heard around the world.
In almost every country, the reaction to Obama's victory was one of rejoicing and relief that Bush and his unilateralist gang were finally history. Expectations for Obama run absurdly high. As CNN headlined this week, "Obama poised to rebrand America." My students welcome the challenge since they issued a report last spring titled Rebranding America (available online at: www.oxyworldwide.com) and they fully expect Obama to bring real change to America's role in the world.
For eight years, I have taught a course every fall at Oxy on the search for a politically sustainable post-Cold War foreign policy for the US. Neither Bill Clinton nor George Bush managed to craft such a new American Grand Strategy. While Clinton understood the realities of globalization, he had to spend too much time clearing up the debris of the Cold War, especially the disintegration of Yugoslavia -- and he was opposed at almost every step by Republicans.
George Bush was worse. He tried to use the tragic events of 9/11 to construct a new Cold War under the rubric of The War on Terror. As a consequence, America's standing in the world -- until Obama's victory -- has been at an all-time low. Relations with countries like Russia or entire regions like Latin America have drifted or deteriorated. As the "War President," Bush divided the country at home. He leaves President-elect Obama with a myriad of trouble spots -- Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran -- that require Presidential attention on day one in office. However, Bush's neglect of problems like global warming and his failure to make the War on Terror into the unifying principle of US foreign policy, provides both opportunity and challenges for Obama.
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At a lecture I gave last week at Pomona College, an international student asked me if expectations for Barack Obama's Presidency were too high -- if he might not fail and disappoint the millions around the world who joined in the collective shout of joy. Of course there will be missteps along the way as Obama himself has cautioned -- but Obama, I firmly believe, understands that this is not simply about himself, and that the load need not rest solely on his shoulders. That's why he is assembling a strong and talented team to govern with him. That's why he is reaching out to former opponents like John McCain and Joe Lieberman, and most likely to some Republicans like Defense Secretary Bob Gates. That's why he is discussing the Secretary of State's job with Hillary Clinton. And that's why his staff is already calling on those who volunteered in his campaign to send in ideas for action and to join him in his reform efforts. He is trying to adopt a transformative style of leadership that encourages participation, and burden-sharing -- of both the credit and the blame. It's the smart and politically savy way to govern.
I don't know if I convinced the student. After all, he could not vote for Obama himself. Obama was not elected by the world's citizens. He is the American President after all -- but he is, in many respects, also the world's President. What he does will matter to young and old across the globe. The world, like America, is waiting for him to lead. It is a daunting and exhilarating thing to behold as the American Century gives way to the first truly Global Century and Oxy's Barack Obama as the Global President.
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