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What inspired the political enthusiasm for Obama, especially among the youth? In order to understand Obama’s rise to power, we have to view it in two contexts. The first?the disastrous policies of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The second context is the resurrection of the centrist liberal trend in the Democratic Party.
Despite the deadlock in negotiations and the growing influence of Iran in the Middle East, moderate Arab states still believe in the viability of a just and comprehensive peace with Israel. They hope that the Obama administration will move swiftly to resume its role as an impartial mediator in and active advocate of negotiations toward a two-state solution.
The Obama administration’s first mission in the Middle East centers around effectively resolving the set of grave challenges created by the outgoing administration’s flawed policies. These include the Iraqi crisis and Iranian influence in Iraq. Most importantly, the U.S. has to take serious and effective steps to resolve the traditional issues; mainly the Palestinian–Israeli conflict.
On the heels of their landslide victory in the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama and the Democratic Party will face major challenges, particularly in the Middle East, which will test the President-elect’s ability to bypass his predecessor’s disastrous policies, the worst the region has ever seen.
By whatever means necessary, China needs to reduce its global trade surplus dramatically -- ideally to zero and below by sometime in 2010. China's exports will most probably continue to grow, even if modestly. Hence, China must put its late-phase World Trade Organisation mechanisms into high gear and open import channels wide, especially for consumer goods.
Just as Guantánamo's legal and geographic isolation from the United States denies its prisoners recourse to the American judicial system, it also denies its military administrators the benefits of the most current research on how to de-radicalize prisoners and reintegrate them into society.
Pakistan may be forfeiting its sovereignty if it is incapable of cracking down on militants like those that launched the recent Mumbai attacks. As it appears increasingly unlikely that the Pakistani civilian government will be able to crack down effectively, the international community should intervene to protect Pakistan’s neighbors from the threat posed by Pakistani-based terrorists.
Following the Pakistani terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the international community should respond by declaring that parts of Pakistan have become ungovernable and a menace to international security. This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty will begin to show the world that states that harbor terrorists cannot take their sovereign rights for granted — these rights need to be earned.
President-elect Barack Obama has assembled a bipartisan, centrist national security team, with an emphasis on pragmatic competence. Already faced with a daunting foreign policy inbox, the incoming administration must formulate a response to the Mumbai terrorist attacks without undermining either the current administration’s credibility or the already-weak Pakistani government.
The path back from the brink of conflict will be a difficult one for Russia and the West. It will require an ambivalent Russia to choose love over hatred, to purge its old demons and to rethink its global role. It will also require the self-absorbed West to adopt a long term strategy for promoting peace and prosperity in Eurasia.
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