Article Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122592900344403049.html#project%3DSLIDESHOW08%26s%3DSB122587056409501237%26articleTabs%3DarticleBarack Obama's victory in the 2008 Presidential Election will and have had an impact on the rest of the world. This particular article concentrates on the fact that Presidential elect, Obama, is not only considered the United States' next leader, but as a potential worldly leader. As we have been discussing in class, this election affects not only the US, but many other countries around the world. One of Germany's tabloids had a front page headline reading, "Good Morning Mr. President -- Make the world better!" It looks like Obama will have a lot of pressure on him to not only help the US out of a crisis, but attend to other nations; we have set high expectations for him. Now that Obama has been named the upcoming 44th President, these countries are expressing concerns about what he plans to do in his term.
While many countries are thrilled that America has finally broken the tradition of a white president, some have sent out "warnings." Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, critiqued the US foreign policy " throwing down the gauntlet to the incoming president." While Afganistan leader, President Hamid Karzai, demands that he end civilian casualties. Obama plans to concentrate more military in Afganistan;China and India are concerned with the trade policies. It looks like he wont be able to please everyone here.
On the other hand, many are happy about America's choice. Obama's village in Kenya, where his late father is native and other family resides, there has been celebration as well as in other places around the world. Many countries see our nation's choice as step in the right direction. An Iranian woman says, "I suddenly have newfound respect for America's democracy and ideals. I wish I was American because this would never happen in our part of the world." Many people are impressed with the fact that America, a nation that started off with the institution of slavery, could have come to electing an African American person into Presidency. Its been a long time coming.
The article ends quoting a veteran German diplomat: "Not even Santa Claus can fulfill all these wishes."
Questions for thought:
Do you think that too many expectations are being put on Obama for the next term?
Why do you think he is already being considered a "world leader"?
What is your reaction to other nations views on Obama?
Do you think we should be worried about what other nations think about our choice or should we be more concerned with what is going on in America?
3 comments:
Too many expectations are not being placed on Obama, rather, Obama is placing too many expectations on Obama. He has all these initiatives and promises in the first 100 days, something Matt Drudge refers to as a "big bang." Obama, McCain, Nader.. regardless of who won the President of the United States is a world leader. I don't really think other nations views and worries should be accounted for, we did not elect a president for their country, they shouldn't be trying to elect a president for our country...
I feel that the way that Obama campaigned was the reason why the peoople's expectation is high. With the theme of change,the current difficulties in the United States and the rest of the world means a lot of actions has to incur in order to try and fix this problem. As for Obama being a world leader, I feel that it is hard to say, due to the fact that Obama has zero international policy experience. I do have to say that the fact that he is willing to have a meeting with any foreign countries might help give the United States a better image in foreign policies. In my opinion, I think that the nation does have too high of an expectation for what Obama will do because the current problems in the United States will take almost a whole decade to fix.
Yes, I think people are expecting Obama to fix too many things. I almost feel sorry for him because if for any reason his administration cannot meet these expectation whether in fixing the economy or some other issues like health care, they/ we will be blaming him for not keeping his promises. The current crisis will take more than one term to be fixed and I think people should understand this and give time to see changes.
I think his character played a huge role to be considered a “world leader.” People around the world have accepted his presidency as if he was going to be their president too; this shows how much his thinking is different from those who were before him. Although it’s good to be aware of what other countries think about America, Americans should focus on what is going on in America.
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