Obama’s America: A New and Improved ‘Hegemon’ – Rzeczpospolita, Poland

The global reaction to Obama’s election triumph isn’t all, as they say ‘kittens and rainbows.’ This article from Poland’s Rzeczpospolita is in the form of a warning to the European left, that while Obama may be easier to deal with, much more sensitive the finer points of diplomatic exchange and a better listener that the widely-derided President Bush – he will still be the leader of the free world, and will expect and perhaps deserve more support from his European partners.

For Rzeczpospolita, Marek Magierowski writes in part:

“It will turn out that Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States – for better or worse – is still the leader of the free world. A different leader, listening to his partners, mellower, but at the same time, more demanding. He will expect support from his partners, and they will no longer have any excuse (’that horrible Bush’) to refuse him.”

By Marek Magierowski

Translated By Halszka Czarnocka

November 5, 2008

Poland – Rzeczpospolita – Original Article (Polish)

Barack Obama, the new White House tenant, will soon have to prove that rumors about the demise of the United States have been grossly exaggerated.

Yes, the reputation of the United States in the global arena has been seriously weakened during recent years. The American economy has lost the aura of being the most resilient and the liberal. And the presidency of George W. Bush can hardly be classified as successful (although it will probably be judged better by history than leftist commentators now assess).

But all this doesn’t mean, however, that the times of Yankee hegemony are over. Under the new president’s leadership, it will still be hegemony … just of another kind.

READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated and English-language foreign press coverage of the U.S. election aftermath