New Europe, The European Weekly
Ray Bawarchi
21 April 2008 - Issue : 778
Barack Obama is a singular figure in American politics. Since George Washington, every single one of the forty-three (43) presidents of the United States has been a white male. Only three African -Americans have ever even been elected a governor of one of the fifty (50) states. Only one Native American has ever been a US Senator. Hardly what one would expect in the alleged "melting pot." For the last eight elections a Bush or a Clinton has been on the presidential ballot. Hardly what one expects in a democracy.
That Obama should emerge now may be simply an accident of history or it may be symbolic of something far more. After 9/11, America had its best opportunity to lead the world. The outpouring of sympathy provided the chance for the US to wipe the slate clean, so to speak, with the rest of the world for our bullying, imperialistic foreign policy over the past 50 years. A foreign policy that spoke publicly of freedom while propping up dictators and ignoring the suppression of rights in oppressive countries with "friendly" governments.
The scale of 9/11 provided an opportunity to start fresh, to recognise that our actions were at least partially to blame for what happened. Instead, Bush heard the jangling of his spurs and engaged in cowboy diplomacy, he attacked. But it wasn't just the militaristic nature of the response. It was the attitude that because the US had been wronged any response was justified. The rendition of prisoners to foreign governments was justified as was the debacle at Abu Ghraib. Guantanamo was opened specifically to circumvent the US legal system.
Within the US things also drastically changed. A chilling effect occurred as people suspected and talked about now confirmed domestic spying. Widespread wiretapping, data mining and the monitoring of anti-war groups have all been verified. Antiimmigrant sentiment grew as fear was manipulated in the national mindset through Homeland Security alerts. The loss of constitutional rights seemed in danger of being accepted as irreversible.
In 2004, the politics of fear was elevated to an art form. Fear of terrorists, fear of immigrants, fear of homosexuals, and fear of anything that could divide the populace became the electoral mantra. Those who questioned the assumptions of this approach were accused of hating the country. Those who spoke out against our actions were accused of aiding the enemy. Meanwhile those within the government constructed rationales for torture and alienated most of our allies.
The idea that the world was filled with dangerous foes intent on harming us became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Attacking Iraq and using words such as "crusade" Bush inflamed former moderates against the nation. The US continued its sabre-rattling against Iran and North Korea even after becoming overextended on two war fronts, becoming nothing but a giant bully forcing its will on the rest of the world. Bush is the living embodiment of this attitude. A proudly ignorant rube who fiercely rejects any point of view but his own, his idea of diplomacy is to threaten other nations. Even allies are given ultimatums.
The "Coalition of the Willing" is really the coalition of the threatened. It is a change from this worldview that I believe the rest of the world sees in Barack Obama, a man so different from Bush he might well be the anti-Bush. He is an intelligent, erudite individual who was the editor of the Harvard Law Review. When he could have had practically any job in law, and the accompanying salary, he returned to Chicago to work as a community organiser.
Growing up bi-racial in mostly white Kansas, later living in Hawaii and Indonesia, Obama has lived a life that gives him insight into the world at large. He has a half-sister who is Indonesian and a niece who is Chinese-Canadian. He even has a paternal uncle who is involved in Kenyan politics. In a time when the world is filled with tension between the Western and Islamic worlds one would think that such experience would be an immediate asset. Instead, some in the US accuse him of attending a Madrassa and being a Muslim.
Again, the politics of fear rears its head. To the world, the election of Obama would signal an outward and visible shift from the insular and at times proudly ignorant foreign policy of the Bush Administration. For the world the noteworthy factor of the Obama election would be an American leader who understands that there is a reality that exists beyond the myth of the American mindset.
But for Americans this signals something even more significant than it does for the rest of the world. To those of us who have sat in embarrassment before the world and boiled in anger at our government as our nation has become an international pariah, the election of Barack Obama would signal that there is hope that we may once again live up to our professed ideals. In an effort to be safe we have surrendered that which is the best of our country and given in to our worst selves.
America stands at a crossroads. It can choose to continue down the path it is currently on and become a third-rate, has been on the scrap heap of history. Alternatively, it can change course and try to refind that place that made it great in the world. Obama is symbolic of this change. More than anything else his election represents the clearest break with the politics of the past.
The politics that led to deals with dictators and a foreign policy centred on military might are on the ballot as well. Obama signals a demand from the American people for a different approach. What his election says to the world is important. To Americans, what the election of Obama would say to us ABOUT us is even more important. He signals that the US can strive for greatness in a way not related to military conquest.
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