LONDON — Two difficult wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A simmering nuclear crisis with Iran. Renewed rivalries with Russia and China. A global financial meltdown spawned on Wall Street. Terrorists almost certainly looking for ways to mount a fresh attack in the United States.
Not since Franklin D. Roosevelt came to power during the Great Depression has a U.S. president faced such a daunting set of world problems.
But perhaps the biggest foreign policy challenge of all for President-elect Barack Obama is restoring America’s battered world standing, damaged by global outrage over the Iraq war and by the deep crisis in the capitalist system the U.S. had come to embody.
Eight years ago, the world looked to the United States for leadership. Today, it is increasingly seen as a nation in decline, hobbled by hubris and uninspired leadership — destined, perhaps, to be overtaken by China within a generation.
Can Obama make America as great as it was again?
Buoyed by the extraordinary wave of adulation he has attracted around the globe, the president-elect will have no trouble making the U.S. more popular than it has been under President Bush. He will have a harder task restoring American power and influence.
Obama’s vision for sweeping foreign policy changes could have a profound effect on the nation’s quest to hold onto its role as sole superpower.
The change in course includes globally popular choices such as a phased withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq and strong action on climate change, an issue that many say was neglected by the Bush administration.
Other changes Obama plans are more controversial.
He wants to increase U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan, which he views as the frontline in the battle against al-Qaida. And he has struck a more conciliatory stance with nations shunned as pariahs under the Bush administration.
Obama suggests he would permit direct diplomatic contacts with Iran. He has said he is open to meeting with Cuban leader Raul Castro without preconditions, and he is expected to send envoys to North Korea, which is also believed to be engaged in its own covert nuclear program.
Obama has already made strides in mending frayed trans-Atlantic ties.
His decision to make a high profile political visit this summer to Europe, where he delivered a soaring speech of reconciliation near Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, sent a strong signal that he hopes to engage Europe as a partner — not treat it as a rival or a lackey.
But while Obama has inspired many around the globe with his idealism and message of change, his inexperience in foreign affairs has also caused worries about whether he can deal with hardliners in North Korea, Russia, Iran, or China.
Daniel Korski, a European Council of Foreign Relations specialist who has held senior advisory posts in the British and U.S. governments, suggested Obama should tone down his lofty rhetoric to avoid unrealistic expectations.
“He has to tell people this will take time and be a long haul,” said Korski, who believes the worsening situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan represents Obama’s toughest national security challenge.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
