si vous voulez lire en français, : http://www.laviereelle.blogspot.com/
THE PRESIDENT AND THE WORLD
President of the United States of America since January 2009, Barack Obama was born in 1961. He graduated from Columbia University and the Harvard Law Faculty and then was later elected as a Senator from Illinois State, an office he held until November 2008. Recently, he visited Canada.
In 2006, he published his book The Audacity of Hope, advancing his thoughts on reclaiming the American dream. His writings have made the New York Time’s Bestsellers book list. One can understand the curiosity of this author to find this book in Montreal's east end, in the middle of this overwhelmingly French speaking city. The book is in English. (First Vintage Books Edition, Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, July 2008).
In his book, he reflects on decisions taken by past presidents, including Ronald Reagan. “Nevertheless, by promising to side with those who worked hard, obeyed the law, cared for their families, and loved their country, Reagan offered Americans a sense of a common purpose that liberals seemed no longer able to muster. And the more his critics carped, the more those critics played into the role he’d written for them –a band of out-of-touch, tax-and-spend, blame-America-first, politically correct elites.” (p. 39). Considering the necessity to levy huge amounts of money to remain in politics, Obama, notes that Democrats adopt policies keeping them not too far from the center. For instance, he named Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, who “believes in the virtues of capitalism.” (p. 47). He also wrote that “as difficult as the work may seem, I believe we have an obligation to engage in efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East, not only for the benefit of the people of the region, but for the safety and security of our own children as well.” (p. 381).
The whole book is interesting. It is an expose of an honest man, optimistic and ready to comply with necessities. But he is probably a little bit too enthusiastic. For instance, he writes: “Sixty years later, we can see the results of this massive postwar undertaking: a successful outcome to the Cold War, an avoidance of nuclear catastrophe, the effective end of conflict between the world’s great military powers, and an era of unprecedented economic growth at home and abroad.” (p. 337).
We all know today the deep crisis facing the USA and the world… Of course, the counter-revolution in the Soviet Union is not the cause of this recession. The People’s Republic of China is apparently adopting policies that will push the country through this difficult period without loosing too much of its financial capacities.
Mr. Obama is however very lucid on the foreign policies of previous US governments when he sadly recognizes that: “The Cold War techniques of secrecy, snooping, and misinformation, used against foreign governments and foreign populations, became tools of domestic politics, a means to harass critics, build support for questionable policies, or cover up blunders. The very ideals that we had promised to export overseas were being betrayed at home.” (p. 339).
He provides other examples of misguided foreign policy: “Occasionally, U.S. covert operations would engineer the removal of democratically elected leaders in countries like Iran –with seismic repercussions that haunt us to this day.” (p. 338). He goes further in affirming that “…the CIA, the “military-industrial complex,” and international institutions like the World Bank were all manifestations of American arrogance, jingoism, racism, capitalism and imperialism.” Those words could have been pronounced by a communist. For Obama, they were the wrong tools to fight against “godless communism”!
The President also rejects criticism of large corporations, stating: “I couldn’t be persuaded that U.S. multinationals and international terms of trade were single-handedly responsible for poverty around the world…” (p. 341).
The United States of America and the future
“[…] so long as a handful of rogue states are willing to attack other sovereign nations, as Saddam attacked Kuwait in 1991- there will be times when we must again play the role of the world’s reluctant sheriff. This will not change –nor should it.” (p. 362).
He adds: “Indeed, given the depletion of our forces after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we will probably need a somewhat higher budget in the immediate future just to restore readiness and replace equipment.” (pp. 362-363). And, obviously, China is seen as a challenge for the USA. Barack Obama, declares as well, that America values play a determinant role in the world arena. “The United States won the Cold War not simply because it outgunned the Soviet Union but because American values held sway in the court of international public opinion, which included those who lived within communist regimes.” He does not mention that North America did not suffer materially from WWII, and that the reconstruction of Europe gave a tremendous boost to its economy, just speaking in economic terms.
Many people condemn George W. Bush for his preemptive war doctrine. Let us say it bluntly: it was generally condemned. So, what does the President means when he writes: “we can and we should carry out preemptive strikes against [nation, group or individual] wherever we can?” (p. 365). He also stresses the importance of protecting US interests in the world, through military power “–interests in maintaining access to key energy sources, keeping financial markets stable…” (p. 366). In this sense, it is difficult to see a difference between Obama and previous administrations.
Finally, the book expresses the general idea that the world must adapt to the western world’s “language” and “popular culture”. Frankly speaking, it is audacious to impose US mass culture and threaten other cultures and languages. Is it not a democratic conquest for the whole world to be able to reflect on reclaiming the planetary dream?
In conclusion, the book deals also with values, the constitution, politics, opportunity, faith, race and family. It should interest everybody living as good neighbourhoods of the United States and wanting to understand the politics of the ruling elite of that country. After all, Obama could be in office for the next 8 years. The book demonstrates that Obama is neither reactionary nor conservative but that his whole life has been moulded by traditional US institutions that are difficult to break free from. This maybe harsh, but it is a friendly comment!
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Many thanks to Tim Pelzer, tpelzer@shaw.ca, for editing this bulletin in english.
