"Is there another country in the world capable of
surpassing prejudice, stereotypes and racism to hand power to the equivalent of
what is represented in the United States by Barack Obama?"
Never in its recent history has America been on the
verge of electing a candidate as personally and intellectually exceptional as
Barack Obama, a man who would be the most equipped to address the dual
challenge of reconciling Americans with themselves - and America with the rest
of the world. Never has the American dream been raised as high and embodied so
spectacularly by a candidate who is in fact of mixed race, even if he is
already improperly described as the future first Black president in the history
of the United-States.
Nonetheless, never will a new presidency
have opened under such harsh financial and economic conditions. The candidate
of hope inherits an America of fear. In most likely preparing to vote for
Obama, America isn't only choosing the candidate it deems most competent and
capable of confronting the consequences of the “September 11 of finance"
which was the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and its catastrophic aftermath. It
isn't just a negative referendum on the unpredictable character of John McCain
- and even more so the limitations of his vice presidential choice, Sarah
Palin. For candidate McCain, his reassuring statements on the strength of the
American economy on the day of Wall Street’s collapse may have been the
equivalent of George W. Bush’s incapacity to grasp in time the impact of
Hurricane Katrina. But beyond these elements of “objective” judgment, there is
also the idea of restoring - as if with a magic wand - the image of the United
States in the world: “You no longer loved me because I stopped being kind; but
look, I can still surprise you. Is there another country in the world capable
of surpassing prejudice, stereotypes and racism to hand power to the equivalent
of what is represented in the United States by Barack Obama?”
Obama
as a White; McCain as a Black - Vote for the man, not the skin color.
But, and herein lies the American paradox, the United
States is once again demonstrating its “exceptionalism” at a time when it
probably lacks the means for its achieving ambitions, when it's somewhat
“normalized” in terms of its power and influence. It can still make us “dream”
through the “power of its example,” even if it cannot afford to be the
indispensable power, alone in its class, which it had become after the Second
World War.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
The next president of the United States will inherit
not only the “Homeric” deficits [ie.: epic deficits],
but two wars, one in Iraq and another in Afghanistan, and a Russia that
believes in using fear as a way “of mattering again.” In 1992, Bill Clinton
came to power with large deficits, but without unmanageable wars and at a time
when Russia was provisionally no longer a problem.
In the current context, the first foreign policy and
security priority of the United States will be to restore the American economy.
In other words, for at least the first two years of his mandate, the next U.S.
president will have his hands and feet tied. It will be much easier for Obama
to restore the image of the United States and its “soft power” than its economy
and financial legitimacy.
RUSSIA TODAY NEWS: UKRAINE FOR OBAMA - GEORGIA FOR MCCAIN
But if the global financial crisis has reinforced and
accelerated the recalibration of the world to the detriment of America and
undoubtedly the West, it has been to the benefit of Asia - according to the principle that
in this crisis “we all fall, but some fall quicker and farther than others.” It
would be premature to bury America too quickly and this - even as it fascinates
us the most.
America - and Barack Obama is its living symbol -
continues to make us dream; no one in the world dreams of becoming Chinese or
Russian. And even if the world has become multi-polar, America alone carries a
universal message and an equalizing vision, in the face of
"egotistic" powers like China and Russia. It also possesses the
capacity to bounce back, which perhaps is still lacking in the other equalizing
power of the planet, the European Union.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Nothing is more dangerous and potentially
disappointing than being the messenger of a dream, particularly when it's on the
point of realization. Barring a surprise, which is always possible although
unlikely, Obama’s American revolution is on the way. He should avoid the double
pitfall. There is the risk of expecting too much of him; his room to maneuver
is very limited and some of his options with regard to trade in particular are
very questionable. But there is also the risk of not expecting anything.
Between romantic illusion and pure cynicism, Barack Obama invites us to follow
him in toward a reasoned “audacity of hope.” As Charles Dickens said: “It was
the best of times and it was the worst of times …”
*Dominique Moïsi has just published The Geopolitics of
Emotion (Flammarion).
