Obama's First 100 Days: A Global Response
Today marks President Barack Obama's 100th day in office, a time when the American people (and pundits) evaluate the president's actions thus far and analyze whether he and his administration are on track to keep the promises made during the election.
Throughout this hundredth day, the American press says Obama has kept a strong focus on foreign policy during the past three months, with visits to Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. In each of these visits, Obama's message went something like this: "Yes we messed up, but we'll listen to you now and take your concerns into consideration," reports Kim R. Holmes on Real Clear World.
It was a hugely popular message that brought him thunderous applause, particularly when he criticized or apologized for America--to an extent that no other sitting American President had done before on foreign soil.
Holmes goes on to comment that though the world is looking at Obama and the United States in a new light, nothing concrete has come from his kind words and renewed message of diplomacy and multilateralism.
The question is whether the President's personal popularity abroad is translating into concrete results for the United States. So far it has not. There has been no outpouring of foreign support for U.S. priorities and initiatives. Moreover, on almost every issue, he has raised expectations of great change in U.S. policy but then pulled back when it became apparent that he could not meet his promises.
In newspapers across the globe, the opinion seems to be different from Holmes, though. The Guardian printed an editorial today titled "Obama's excellent 100 days," attributing the praise to the release of the secret memos regarding the torture of terrorist suspects that occurred in the Bush administration.
That decision, among others, means that President Obama has already restored to his country much of the international authority it lost under President Bush. That is more than a symbolic victory within just 100 days.
Likewise, the Financial Times called Obama's first 100 days "ambitious" and "impressive," though it questioned Obama's plan for Pakistan and Afghanistan - two hotspots that the U.S. cannot ignore.
Barack Obama's presidency is off to an impressive start. Far from seeming daunted by the economic conditions he inherited from his predecessor, Mr Obama has maintained the posture, so familiar from his election campaign, of purposeful energy, steady calm and preternatural self-confidence.
In foreign and security policy, the new president has departed abruptly from the policies of the previous administration on some subjects, and pressed on with little change in others. In striving to wind down the US commitment in Iraq while building up US forces in Afghanistan, Mr Obama is essentially following the path set out by Mr Bush. Soon a new course on Afghanistan and Pakistan will be needed; his thinking on this is not yet clear.
The Globe and Mail summed up President Obama's success thus far into four "Ps:" personality, pragmatism, policies and principles.
But most important, although the President is more popular than his policies, a majority of Americans appear to have embraced his principles: a greater openness and flexibility in foreign affairs, while looking to government as the solution, not the problem, in regulating the economy and strengthening the social safety net.
To the extent he can sustain this new consensus, Mr. Obama's presidency could be the most transformative since Ronald Reagan's.
Though the foreign press and editorial boards are lauding Obama for his achievements and the reversal of several key policies of the Bush administration, each warns that it may be too soon to tell whether Obama's policies abroad will be successful, including an article in The Dawn newspaper from Pakistan.
William Galston, a scholar at the Brookings Institution and a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, said he viewed the 100-day mark as 'an entirely artificial benchmark.'
On the other hand, Galston said, 'I think we've learned a fair amount about Obama the human being occupying the Oval Office.''But a lot of people are leaping from the fact that he's set an enormous number of things in motion to the conclusion that those things that are now in motion are necessarily going to reach the finish line,' Galston said. 'It's not a leap I'm prepared to take.'
Similarly, Der Spiegel takes a more skeptical look at Obama's first 100 days, while still addressing a myriad of successes -- or perceived successes -- since he took office on Jan. 20.
These days, the US media likes to report on an "Obama revolution," a long-term political shift comparable to the "Reagan revolution" of the early 1980s. A more pleasant set of headlines for the president's 100th day would be hard to imagine.
Since his first day, Obama has parried fresh crises and fulfilled countless election promises. It's an instant American revolution: Bailouts for banks, auto companies and the real estate market; a huge stimulus package; new rules for Wall Street. An announced closure for the prison at Guantanamo Bay. A new definition of the war on terror, including a major rearrangement of troops. A liberalization of funds for stem-cell research. The "National Service Bill," which has hardly been discussed outside the US but will bring millions of Americans willingly into government service. A redistribution of the tax burden. In less than 15 weeks Obama has annulled decades of Republican ideology....
But of course the truth is somewhat more complicated, and image, of course, is not everything.
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Huffington Post | Catherine Lyons | 04/29/09 11:00 PM