[Courrier International, France]

 

 

Le Figaro, France

McCain vs. Obama: An Election a Tribute to the American Ruling Class

 

"American democracy has once again produced consensus at the level of its ruling class. And it is precisely thanks to this, that the United States can permit itself such a clear-cut alternative. So will it be McCain or Obama? We shall see."

 

The Chronicle of Alexandre Adler

                                                          

 

Translated By Sandrine Ageorges

 

November 1, 2008

 

France - Le Figaro - Original Article (French)

Will it be McCain or Obama? That is the question that will obsess the entire planet this weekend. Having nothing new to offer in this area, I suggest to our readers that we pose another question about McCain and Obama: What are the great underlying problems and shared solutions that have emerged during the debates and confrontations of the presidential campaign?

 

The first point of common concern relates to American domestic politics, and more precisely, economic and financial policy. McCain and Obama have both been immunized from the influences of Wall Street, and have been for a while now.

 

Both of them - as at present all Americans do - approve of the active skepticism of the sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett: for them, America’s salvation lies in rebuilding and expanding its industrial sector, including its largely neglected manufacturing base.

 

For one as for the other, the need to invest in the nation's somewhat abandoned infrastructure is a long-term necessity. Finally there's a convergence about admitting that a moderate dose of protectionism will be necessary for this industrial recovery to take place, which is now being brandished as a way to restore hope.

 

Obama and McCain: Wide agreement on vital issues.

 

Is this to say that trade war with China and Japan is now on the way? Certainly not. The United States absolutely needs to achieve some balance in its trade with China. There is an indirect type of protectionism that the new administration could try: a deliberate policy of monetary erosion that the FED has a tendency to practice, in order to make American exports more attractive. This is all the more possible because the easing of oil costs tens to weaken the dollar.

 

The Second point of convergence: the abandonment of Europe. Have we truly considered that Barack Obama spent most of his youth in Hawaii, notably at a time when John McCain’s father was Commander of the Pacific Fleet? Indeed, among the American political class, these two candidates rank among those least connected to Europe,. This relative indifference toward the Old Continent is combined with a certain benevolence; benign neglect. It's the kind of benign neglect described by British Prime Minister Palmerston [1859-1865 ] as the foundation of London's policy toward Europe - and it has made a return.

 

And should we complain? This is the only way for Europeans to finally attain the status of a power in all of its forms; and to do so with the consent of English Labour [the ruling Labour Party], thanks notably to the spectacular moral reconciliation with Washington that Nicolas Sarkozy made possible at the end of the Bush presidency.

 

Thirdly, and this is the least observed element, Obama and McCain have very good reasons to prolong the Middle East policy of Bush, which has born fruit over the past two years: restoring an increasingly credible Iraq State; a precarious but certain decline of Pakistani Islamism, which confronts a democracy restored and able to counter the military [some of which supports the Islamists]. A withdrawal from Iraq, perhaps more quickly than scheduled - throwing into the battle all of America's resources to save civil Pakistan and the current Afghanistan - will be the policy of Washington, whatever happens.

 

Finally, significant progress can be expected from McCain as from Obama in three fronts: Mexico and the wider issue of immigration of Mesoamericans; Cuba and the democratic transition of populist regimes in Latin America; and Iran, with which a compromise remains possible and desirable. 

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

On this last point, the current secretary of defense, Bob Gates - of whom it is said that Obama would want to retain at his post - and the just-retired highest-ranking diplomat at the State Department, Nicholas Burns - have said that a greater opening toward Teheran is necessary. This should be obvious to all. In short, the election is far from pointless, especially on the symbolic level.

 

But historians, somewhat attentive to the pivotal nature of this period, will be especially receptive to the fact that this great turning in American began to be taken by George W. Bush himself, when he fired Donald Rumsfeld and abandoned, by way of the soothing diagnosis of his intelligence services on Iran's nuclear program, the idea of bombing Teheran or subjecting it to military coercion.

 

In short, American democracy has once again produced consensus at the level of its ruling class. And it is precisely thanks to this, that the United States can permit itself such a clear-cut alternative. So will it be McCain or Obama? We shall see as soon as Tuesday.

 

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US November 3, 6:30pm]