As Challenges Mount, Ardor For Obama Cools Abroad
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VIENNA - Barack Obama got a global standing ovation long before he was elected president. But in a fickle and fast-moving world, the overseas reviews are already turning mixed.
Though much of the world will party through the night Tuesday after Obama is sworn in as America's 44th president - just as it did when he was elected - there are signs the ardor is cooling as the sheer weight of his challenges sinks in.
A deepening global recession, new hostilities in the Middle East, complications in closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan - an impatient world has a stake in all of them and is asking how much change Obama can deliver.
"Just two months ago, the future president seemed a cross between Superman and Merlin the magician," Massimo Gramellini wrote in a commentary for Italy's La Stampa newspaper. "Now he himself admits he won't be able to keep all his promises, and who knows? Maybe someone will ask for his impeachment by the end of next week."
"The idealism has diminished," said Samuel Solvit, who heads an Obama support network in France. "Everyone was dreaming a little. Now people are more realistic."
Muslims want to know why Obama hasn't joined the chorus of international criticism of Israel's Gaza offensive. Last week posters of him were set on fire in Tehran to shouts of "Death to Obama!"
"By the time Obama takes office, hundreds or thousands more will be killed in Gaza and it will be too late for him to act," said Adel Fawzi, an Egyptian government clerk in Cairo.
Obama has expressed concern about Gaza, but says he's reluctant to say much more until his inauguration.
Meanwhile the global economic collapse is already closing in on him. Around the world, leaders and their publics are waiting to see what he does to calm roiled markets and restore confidence.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel both say they're confident the Obama administration will succeed in working with Europe and China to build a stronger global economy.
"He has a big vision of how America can contribute to the long-term prosperity of the world," Brown said.
"The chances of us working this out are good," Merkel said in Berlin, where Madame Tussauds rolled out a wax likeness of Obama to great fanfare.
Sweden's prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, told parliament last week he empathizes with the monumental challenges facing Obama.
"I think it's difficult to find an American president who is being met with such a number of expectations as Barack Obama," he said.
That's the problem, said Reginald Dale, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington: People everywhere simply expect too much, practically ensuring Obama will disappoint.
"The United States can't solve all the world's problems," he said in an interview. "It doesn't have enough money or military power. And the president is constrained by Congress and the constitution. The founding fathers wanted to stop someone from being like a monarch."
Dozens of developing countries rely on U.S. foreign aid, which historically has been generous. But an administration preoccupied with keeping Americans from losing their homes and jobs may have to cut back on foreign assistance.
Even items on Obama's agenda that initially seemed straightforward are turning out to be fraught with complications, such as closing Guantanamo in eastern Cuba. Obama has hinted that it may be his first executive order - but experts say it could take a year to accomplish.
"There are all sorts of logistical questions," Dale said. "What if they suddenly captured Osama bin Laden? Where would they put him? It's very easy for people abroad to take these issues as symbols of what they think is wrong with America. They need to understand the Americans don't like these things any more than they do."
That hasn't stopped harsh U.S. critics like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez from offering blunt advice.
"I don't want to tell President Obama what to do," Chavez said in a televised address. He did anyway: If Obama wants to free up billions of dollars, Chavez said, he should pull U.S. troops out of Iraq immediately and shrink Washington's military bootprint around the world.
Obama did pledge during the campaign to withdraw all American combat forces from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. But he also vowed to shift the focus to Afghanistan - and Obama's Pentagon is likely to find it hard to persuade allies to commit more troops there.
Mexico has tempered its expectations that Obama will bring "transformational change" to the economy or quickly tackle immigration reform. As Agustin Carstens, Mexico's treasury secretary, put it: "At the end of the day, we have to be realistic."
All the same, there's still plenty of Obamamania overseas, particularly in Europe, where George W. Bush is highly unpopular.
"We still have high expectations," said Dean Cole, 41, selling fruit from a north London market stand. Obama "strikes me as a man of honor. When I hear him, I think, 'There's a man with a mission.'"
Maria Gabriella Lunato, a 53-year-old saleswoman in Rome, reveres Obama as though he were a pope. "He will not be just an American president, but a person who will spread justice around the world," she said.
But Lise Lindeberg, a 72-year-old retiree in Stockholm, Sweden, thinks people have put too much faith in Obama.
"I feel sorry for the poor thing," she said. "People want him to be a savior - some kind of messiah. You just can't become president and change everything when there's no money."
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William Kole reported from Vienna. AP Writers Ariel David in Rome, Gregory Katz and David Stringer in London, Melissa Eddy in Berlin, Salah Nasrawi in Cairo, Malin Rising and Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm, Ian James in Caracas, Alexandra Olson in Mexico City and Dheepthi Namasivayam in Paris contributed to this report.
Cornelius Hamelberg
The Romantic Movement may have started here but we Europeans are
pragmatists. It was Europe that colonised, so don’t mis-underestimate
us. Africa belongs to Europe – to the European sphere of influence
whilst South America remains more of USA & Canada’s backyard.) I doubt
that Dr. Ojo will agree with the idea of belonging - to even the
English language group. (Smile)
“Sweden's prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, told parliament last week
it's difficult to find an American president who is being met with
Indeed, our conservative Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, not to talk
about the Social Democrats and all the other Swedish political party
leaders, not one uncle tom among them, were all ardent supporters of
our Barack Obama versus John McCain. And the above statement does not
diminish the fact that Obama’s love affair with Europe is still at a
rock-steady foundation (to use a Madeleine Albright expression about
USA –Israel relations)
I read the Swedish papers everyday (DN and SvD) and I’m not aware of
any cooling off of the ardour - if anything we are impressed by
Obama’s chosen team – and therefore more hopeful about the kind of
intelligence that will be brought to bear on problems. Everyone is
looking forward to Hillary Clinton on the world stage – and the
McCainites must admit that she’ll be a better secretary of state than
Sarah Palin who didn’t know that Turkey is also a country and not just
what Americans consume at Thanksgiving.
Concerning the article that I’m responding to : All this is old hat
negativity from the prophets of doom who expect - and pray for the
worst even before it happens – so that they can say “I told you so”
and hopefully thus confirm the authenticity of their prophecy which is
still, forever yet to be confirmed.
Change has come to America! And we should always bear in mind that the
president of the United States is what he is expected to be: just
that: the president of the United States. And he may blow the
saxophone like John Coltrane and still not be the president of Africa
– or a “Black Nationalist and Pan- Africanist (How absurd do you want
to be?)
Like it or don’t like it – and if nothing untoward happens then at
that most momentous moment in American history, Be'ezrat Hashem,
Barack Obama, will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United
States of America.
Last time I heard the expression King of America – was as in 1970 in
the Chalets, South Legon, Ghana, listening to a song by Donovan “Poke
at the Pope” in which he chants
“Save my soul,
Save it soon
The King of America
Fell in swoon.”
Robert Mugabe is unpopularly known as King Bob by Zimbabwean Brits -
although he fought for his Independence. George Walker Bush was not
known as King George ( of America) and Brother Obama will
certainly not be crowned like King Hussein ( of Jordan) for the
simple reason that the United States is not a European style or Arab
style monarchy. This means that even cynics (May they never be
satisfied) won’t have the pleasure of witnessing a coronation as I did
of Queen Elisabeth II in London in 1953.
As to why Brother Obama was silent on Gaza, he has already explained
that the US does not have two presidents at the same time.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Why+is+OBama+silent+on+Gaza%3F
Arabs – and journalists are no exception, tend to express themselves
hyperbolically - it goes with the language ( “Gaza will be their
cemetery” said Hamas’ political chief in Damascus “and we will fight
to the last man” etc Saddam : “They will swim in their own blood!” –
he said to George Bush & Colin Powell. Thou shalt not exaggerate O
prophet of doom ”By the time Obama takes office, hundreds or thousands
said Adel Fawzi, an Egyptian government clerk in Cairo.
the impression that our prayers for a cessation of hostilities and a
stop to that stubborn rocket-fire from Gaza - always a prelude to
peace is about to happen and that the dust and noise –and the heat of
battle will have completely died down by the time that our First Black
President and his First Black Lady of the USA take to the White House
and start saying their prayers in the oval office.”
I think that whether the IDF has fulfilled the goals or not as claimed
by Ehud Olmert - the cessation of hostilities just two days before
Brother Obama’s inauguration I see as a goodwill gesture from Israel,
to President Barack Obama so that his day one is a little lighter than
it would be should the fighting have escalated to a full scale ground
assault on Gaza City.
Matters are still terribly complicated and will not become less
complicated after the Israeli elections. In the meantime, although
Europe backs Israel’s stand against terror, Sarkozy has his four
million Arabs on his home turf - his Arab home constituency and would
not like to promote any further Arab riots in France, and so
understandably, there’s still this sort of reality to deal with :
http://www.israpundit.com/2008/?p=8148#comments
Everyone is realistic about the many diverse problems that the
president of the United States faces both at home and abroad. The
article mentions
“A deepening global recession, new hostilities in the Middle East,
Afghanistan - an impatient world has a stake in all of them and is
Yes, we are all aware of that and could add Russia relations to the
list of what’s also awaiting his attention.
But Lise Lindeberg probably has the last word after all:
But Lise Lindeberg, a 72-year-old retiree in Stockholm, Sweden, thinks
people have put too much faith in Obama. "I feel sorry for the poor
thing," she said. "People want him to be a savior - some kind of
messiah. You just can't become president and change everything when
there's no money."
Dr. Valentine Ojo
pragmatists. It was Europe that colonised, so don’t mis-underestimate
us. Africa belongs to Europe – to the European sphere of influence
whilst South America remains more of USA & Canada’s backyard.) I doubt
that Dr. Ojo will agree with the idea of belonging - to even the
Cornelius:
I read your by now familiar rambling rant - talking about everything and
talking about NOTHING really - and I found absolutely NOTHING funny or to
smile about in what you wrote.
One time, you claim you are Yoruba, and related to half the tribes in Africa.
Now it is "we Europeans are..."
Are you sure who you really are at all, or just some nutcase seeking
desperately for where to belong?
Or just a mere run-of-the-mill spoiler?
Yes, we (you and I) spoke for sometime on the phone, but your rambling
rant did not allow me to be able to place you accurately. (Frankly, I am
not convinced that you are African, or even related to any African - you
come across as too Jewish and too European for that, and your claims of
being related to this or that in Africa are not the least bit convincing.)
You've maybe dabbled around or hung around Africans - but you an African?
Then I am a Martian.
And in closing, tell your crazy "Lise Lindeberg, a 72-year-old retiree in
Stockholm, Sweden, [who] thinks people have put too much faith in Obama.
savior - some kind of messiah. You just can't become president and change
everything when there's no money."
people should feel sorry, and not Obama who is smart and intelligent
enough to realize this not a one-man road-show, and who has gathered
around him some of the best brains in America.
It is NOT money only that makes things work.
Sometimes, I wonnder where you surfaced from, and what exactly is your
mission on this forum. If you are not preaching some extreme form of
nauseating 'zionism', you are writng like some crazy redneck who has no
business on a forum dominated by Africans and people of African origin -
drawing red herrings all over the place, and making any intelligent or
meaningful discussion of any issue near impossible.
You are comming across like a dubious and unsavory character really.
Who is your paymaster?
Dr. Valentine Ojo
Tall Timbers, MD
P.S. And it's hardly a surprise that you would find yourself in the same
corner as this other character, thai whatever.
"Cornelius Hamelberg" <Cornelius...@gmail.com>
Cornelius Hamelberg
How I wish that I could rumble on in Amos Tutola-like prose at its
phantasmagorical most dazzling and so make myself accessible to us the
pidgin-speaking or pidgin–thinking and pidgin-understanding good
people, outside of this forum even if the Say Tokyo Kids among our
most exalted poet laureates will not readily agree to this kind of
pedigree
I wish that I hadn’t stopped at this sentence on page 49 of Philip
Roth’s” Indignation”, published last year). I’ll return to it
immediately after I send this off to you – on this great day dawning.
It was this perfect sentence that stopped me in my tracks: “Some went
out to the town cemetery and conducted their sex play against the
tombstones or even down on the grave themselves; others got away with
what little they could at the movies; but mostly, after evening dates,
girls were thrust up against the trunks of trees in the dark of the
quadrangle containing the three women’s dorms, and the misdeeds that
the parietal regulations were intended to curb were partially
perpetrated among the elms that beautified the campus.”
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
When – and where did I claim to be “Yoruba, and related to half the
tribes in Africa”?
That was a little breezy, perhaps cheesy, coming from you. Me “talking
about everything and
talking about NOTHING really “. What is it that you want me to say?
You are incensed that an honourable Yoruba man says “We Europeans”?
I was joking of course - in the same way that it would be nothing to
smile about, if I told you “You Americans are still bombing innocent
people in Afghanistan!” Or "get the –uck out of Vietnam!” I know that
the Nigerian-Americans who have relocated to the greener pastures of
the US turf ( all that milk and honey) would like to extricate
themselves from being included in the general term and absolve
themselves of all sin related to the matter.
My by now familiar rant (no rave) addressed two things: the great
expectation about brother Obama and a side comment on his inauguration
(not coronation) In addressing the issue (great expectations about his
foreign policy mostly) I also had at the back of my mind Dr. Bangura
who had inadroitly opposed Brother Obama throughout the primaries
right up to 4th November and demonstrably showed less confidence in
him and apparently more confidence in the Bradley effect. Yet he is
the one who posted both articles about brother Obama – one about what
he is going to say on the day of his “coronation” ( well everyone -
every journalist worth some salt is handing out advice and prophesying
about that one) and the other article about the “cooling off in ardour
for Obama cools abroad”
WE Europeans refers to me and the many others who live here in Europe,
and have done so for an even longer period than most of the
naturalised Africans in America who wave a USA passport. AS they are
Americans so we are Europeans. You could coin the term Afro-Europeans
if you like. How about “African Europeans, the way that we have
African Americans?
You say that you had “absolutely NOTHING funny or to smile about”?
Yesterday when you wrote that was Rev Dr. Martin King’s Day
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&fkt=1625&fsdt=11188&q=Martin+Luther+King%27s+day&aq=f&oq=
You say, “Yes, we (you and I) spoke for sometime on the phone, but
your rambling
rant did not allow me to be able to place you accurately.” Fact of the
matter is that I called, but you spoke 90% of the time while I
listened. You did not ramble in reply to my 10% questions. You must
admit that I’m a good listener. You may have the transcript of the
call if you wish to see who rambled.
Am I an African? My Yoruba mother tells me that Fullah/ Fulani was the
first language that I spoke – as I played with Fullah children.
I’m a Pan-African.
Money can’t buy me love true but Lise Lindeberg has a point though as
is so often said, “It’s the economy, stupid”
Me, a” crazy redneck”?
Me,” preaching some extreme form of nauseating 'zionism'”?
Jabotinsky, my mentor Dr. Mikhail Tunkel’s mentor didn’t do that
Good news:
http://news.google.com/nwshp?tab=wn&ned=us&topic=n
Well, there not much that this dubious and unsavoury character would
really like to add to that except wish you good morning as it’s 6.15
a.m. here.
Best Wishes from your Cornelius
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