An American Abroad

This is a fascinating time for a student of American politics to be traveling abroad.

Although it may be hard for many Americans to believe, the response to Barack Obama’s election has been even more enthusiastic in Europe than in the US—where a mere 53% of the electorate voted for the eventual winner. It is tempting to say that the new president is twice as popular here.

News-stands across the Continent have trumpeted these election results, with Obama peering out beneath glowing headlines in every language. “Un President Historique” proclaims the French magazine Le Point. “Der Traum Wird Wahr,” announces Germany’s Die Zeit. And the local newspaper, Salzburger Nachrichten, poses the hopeful question, “Sind wir jetz alle Amerikaner?” I already know the answer: a very senior French analyst I witnessed in Paris the morning after the election, at a breakfast hosted by the International Herald Tribune, greeted one expatriate with a hug: “We can at last say we are all Americans again!”

It is in this remarkable environment that some sixty participants from 26 countries have convened to contemplate what the future of US foreign policy might look like in the new era. And the results have been, appropriately, sobering. To be sure, there is enormous zeal within the global community for the changing face of this new administration. Especially among the Europeans, there is a very strong sense of relief about what some are terming here the end of “the Unipolar moment.” But the closer one looks at the vast array of problems President Obama will inherit, as we have been doing over the last three days, the more cautious one becomes in declaring that this election prefigures peace on Earth and good will toward all men (and women).

At dinner in the Marble Hall on the session’s first night, I found myself seated next to Palestinian spokeswoman, and fellow alum of the University of Virginia, Hanan Ashrawi—to whom I observed, based on my studies of presidential history, that we seem to be experiencing in the political world a lot of irrational exuberance. “And look at what that did to our economies,” she answered with a wry smile. It might be added that she is one of a few people who, for completely understandable reasons, refuses to indulge in flights of fancy about the future path of US efforts abroad.

The purpose of this session is to construct a set of realistic recommendations to present to the Obama administration as it seeks to set a new direction in the world. I expect these will be relatively modest suggestions, and, based on the discussions I have heard, will fully acknowledge the extraordinary constraints the new president will confront as an unexpected financial crisis dominates his early time in office.

There are extraordinarily thorny issues to be worked out with the rest of the world—including agreements on trade, climate change, and questions about security and terrorism. Those issues cannot long be put off, but for right now something as simple as consultation and meaningful dialogue—because of their evident lack in recent years—may suffice. Indeed, perhaps the most hopeful sign here for an American visitor is the extent to which others seem willing to exercise patience with the new US team as it finds its way. They certainly don’t wish to be ignored. But they seem willing to wait their turn to dance, so long as they begin hearing the proper music quickly.

By: Russell Riley, Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia