How pressing is the moment? It’s a question that most informed observers, both of politics and finance and both here and abroad, would today answer ‘very pressing.’
The sense of the urgency can be gleaned from this article by Michael Naumann of the German weekly, Die Zeit, which is part appreciation for President Obama’s gifts, part a chastening examination of what the United States and the world confronts, and part an indicator of how badly Europe today wants and needs the American leadership that it has perceived as lacking for the past eight years.
Of the challenges, Naumann writes in part:
“If Obama manages to implement these plans, that alone would warrant his place in text books on global economics; yet foreign policy challenges loom even larger. In Pakistan, nuclear bombs are in proximity of officers capable of mounting a coup; Israel is in the midst of an endless conflict with the Palestinian people; Iran is manufacturing its first nuclear weapon; in Moscow. a new dictatorship is emerging – one capable of causing substantial geopolitical disruption; China is turning into an unpredictable competitor; in Afghanistan, military failures are coming home to roost; in Iraq, if American troops are withdrawn the United States will leave behind an unpacified country. And Osama bin Laden’s terror network hasn’t disappeared, either.”
And of the pressing nature of the moment:
“Neither Berlin nor Brussels can afford to waste the U.S. government’s time with petty grievances. Time is running out for all of us. The next summit [in March] will be held on the precipice of a worldwide depression. After eight years of adversity Europe no longer fears American leadership, but expects it.”
By Michael Naumann
Translated By Ulf Behncke
January 29, 2009
Germany – Die Zeit – Original Article (German)
The office as well as the state were like new again, just as they were when the first President of the United States, George Washington, was asked whether he should be addressed as “Your Majesty.” Modesty prevailed. When Barack Obama took the oath of office before nearly two million Americans, many saw him too, as a redeemer. The new “Majesty.” The young president knew to shy away from rosy expectations in his inaugural speech. It wasn’t he alone, but all Americans, who were summoned to bring forth major change. It sounded as though he was reaching out to each and every individual: You must change your lives and re-invent America. But it won’t happen overnight.
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