Diminishing Returns for Obama's Summiteering?

The Obamas toured a center of the African slave trade on Saturday on the coast of Ghana.

President Barack Obama returned early Sunday morning from a near week-long international tour that took him to a key summit in Moscow, a G-8 summit, and his first appearance in Africa as president. But some suggested, with his poll numbers down a bit and media attention mostly elsewhere, that his summiteering is having diminishing returns.

Perhaps. But I think it has at least as much to do with the media culture.

American media, especially cable TV news, is moving more into infotainment mode, stuck on a few areas. Geopolitics has never been its strong suit, and political coverage is mostly focused on food fights. Which was unfortunate, as following on to his addresses in Prague and Cairo, Obama gave the final two of his advertised four major speeches on his new geopolitics last week, in Moscow and in Accra, Ghana.

While Obama was in Moscow for a fairly momentous summit with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, American media was mostly transfixed by some very shiny pieces of tinsel named Michael Jackson and Sarah Palin.

Obama's meeting with the pope is the sort of standard event that the conventional media knows how to cover.

Now, admittedly, neither Jackson nor Palin holds much interest for me. They're non-serious celebrities. I have a high tolerance for eccentricity, which can be a creative thing, but Michael Jackson was just plain weird, and I hadn't listened to his music in decades. As for Sarah Palin, I pegged her as a lightweight in a piece here on the Huffington Post just a few hours after she was announced as John McCain's running mate and maintained that she was a serious hindrance for McCain right after her career highlight speech at the Republican national convention. She's a political sideshow. Put another way, she'll be president some time after Han Solo.

Here's the 911 call for the late Michael Jackson.

But between the now ingrained back-and-forth fights over Palin and the Jackson circus, the dominant programming was set, taking over the most interesting part of Obama's week, the Russian part.

Admittedly, geopolitics isn't easy to talk about. It's not simply a matter of opinion. The media is quickly at sea when foreign policy goes beyond Western Europe and the Middle East. And even CNN has cut back on its geopolitical coverage. Fox News and MSNBC are barely in the game.

That was especially clear on Saturday, when the Obamas toured a former center of the African slave trade on the coast of Ghana.

Fox News had no set-up for this obviously dramatic moment in the history of America's first black president, cutting away from its usual conservative chatter only as Obama was wrapping up his remarks after he and his family toured the former dungeons and slave pens, cutting away not long after. As for MSNBC, it had no coverage at all, stuck as it was on whatever infotainment sludge it is that the channel telecasts on weekends. Only CNN had anything approaching full coverage.

The media culture and its obsessions aside, Obama had a very interesting week.

Russia and America are now allied on Afghanistan.

The Moscow Summit from Monday to Wednesday was the so-called "Reset Summit" to bring American/Russian relations out of the neo-Cold War depths they'd sunk to last year. It certainly succeeded at that, and at some other things as well, especially with regard to sharp reductions in nuclear weapons, aid for the US effort in Afghanistan, and a pullback on NATO expansion, a longtime thorn in the side of Russia. But other sticking points remained, on a US anti-missile shield and on Iran.

And while Obama has good rapport with Medvedev, the reaction of Putin, which is not yet clear, may be the most telling. Here's one early indication of what Putin's reaction might be. Obama's buddy, Medvedev (Putin's former chief of staff), announced as the G-8 summit ended that if the proposed US anti-missile shield in Eastern Europe isn't resolved to Moscow's satisfaction by September, he will move offensive missiles into Kaliningrad, formerly the Prussian/German city of Konigsberg, a Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic.

After Moscow, which coincided with the height of the Jackson circus and the Palin psychodrama, things went predictably downhill at the G-8, the group of eight advanced industrial nations which has been largely overtaken by the G-20.

With Obama's encouragement, the G-8 leaders agreed to provide $20 billion in food aid to Africa, mainly in development programs rather than cash which would otherwise likely end up in the pockets of corrupt regimes.

That aside, the G-8 summit looks like a disappointment. While leaders agreed to continue economic stimulus efforts, with the International Monetary Fund projecting a 1.4% contraction in the global economy this year (down slightly from the previous forecast), there's still concern about continuing unemployment. Which is usually a lagging indicator of any recovery.

The more established industrial countries are at loggerheads with more recently industrializing countries on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. China and India are not on board. As a result, the more established powers agreed to a goal of cutting temperature rises but not specific targets in greenhouse gas reductions This means there is a great deal to be done prior to the UN's big Copenhagen conference late this year on climate change.

Obama delivered a major address on America, Africa, and the new world framework on Saturday to the Ghanaian Parliament in Accra.

Obama's first visit to Africa as president, obviously fairly momentous, received relatively short shrift. That's probably a function of timing, (coming on the weekend in the US), ignorance (like most white Americans, I know relatively about Africa), and overload (coming at the tail end of a big week), as well as a failing media culture.

It's unfortunate, as Obama's speech to the Ghanaian Parliament in Accra, with more than a bit of tough love that certainly no other president could utter, was quite interesting. And deserves much more attention than I can give it now. (For one thing, I would actually have to know about Africa, which I do not.)

Sarah Palin, chatting flirtatiously here with a Canadian comedian she strangely believed to be French President Nicolas Sarkozy, will, odd as it may seem, never be president.

Contrary to conventional media expectation, Obama has not been hunkered down in the White House, dispatching Hillary Clinton to fly the flag around the world. (Indeed, Clinton will give her first major speech as secretary of state only this week.) Instead, Obama is pursuing a very expansive recasting of America's role in the world, with a fascinating blend of high-flown rhetoric and realpolitik.

It has nothing to do with the controversial fluff that is Sarah Palin, the infotainment appeal of Michael Jackson, the usual partisan ping-pong, or even the celebrity-oriented media obsessions with the Obamas themselves. But it does have a lot to do with America's future.

You can check things during the day on my site, New West Notes ... www.newwestnotes.com.

Comments

[Allen Guise]

Interestingly, even Russia Today couldn't come up with a good reason why US prefers transiting to Afghanistan via Russia instead of going through Azerbaijan. The latter route is visibly shorter on their map than the Russian one.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

I know that as an emigre you are vehemently opposed to Putin and Medvedev, however Russia Today has come up with many good reasons for the route.

[Allen Guise]

Your ad hominem argument aside, can you name at least one good reason? RT talked about "stolen trucks in Pakistan". Well, first, it's a different route - through Pakistan. Second, it's a land route - so it doesn't apply. I did not see any good reasons for flying planes over Russia vs flying planes over Azerbaijan. Did you?

[Winning09]

You're a broken record.

[Allen Guise]

I have yet to see a single interesting post from you. But if you know the answer to my question may be you can produce it here?

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

It's important not to imagine, as you did somewhere here which I can't find, that Putin is about to go. You obviously dislike him and have an axe to grind that gets in the way of analysis.

[cdub1991]

I agree that the overseas trips are having diminishing returns with respect to the American media consumer. There has been a lot of it with a lot of coverage and some information fatigue is to be expected. The travel has had nothing but positive returns with respect to the rest of the world, however, and that's the more important issue. Obama is essentially reintroducing America to the world and letting them know that we are back in the game. Don't forget--we see Obama's face every day. Other countries, while intrigued by him, are not necessarily giving him a large piece of their attention--until he arrives on their shores, that is. As long as his appearance generates positive results for America in the part of the world in question, I wouldn't worry too much if the US citizenry isn't paying 100% attention all the time.

As an aside, while I agree that the Palin story wasn't worth more than one day, the Michael Jackson story is in a different category. He and his family have been responsible for a fundamental part of the American sound track for almost three decades. Michael Jackson has been, for better or worse, one of our major cultural exports. The story warranted attention, although 24/7 was a bit much. Most of us have moved on. The only people still talking incessantly about the story are the ones complaining about the story.

[thoughtful3]

Thank you very much for a, unfortunately rare, substantive article.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

You're welcome.

[Winning09]

Hey, it's the 911 call on Michael Jackson! That's so fascinating! Thanks, such a public service!

lol

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

Consider it a great public service.

[Winning09]

Heh.

[Winning09]

I like what I heard of Obama's big Africa speech. I'll listen to the rest later.

[Winning09]

Palin and the comedian pretending to be the President of France! I love it!

She's such a dunce. How can anybody take her seriously?

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

It's fairly amazing.

I think most of the media doesn't take her seriously at all.

She's just an easy programming staple.

>She's such a dunce. How can anybody take her seriously?

[Winning09]

You don't have to think much to bat Palin back and forth a la the old "Crossfire."

[Winning09]

The Russian TV coverage of Obama still sounds pretty chummy after the summit.

That's a good sign, isn't it?

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

Yes, despite what some other experts are saying about a coming big confrontation between the US and Russia.

> photo

Obama's trip concerned mostly atmospherics (as a preceding post suggests in seeing it as "showcasing...") even though as much as he could, Obama tried to get some movement on global interests such as the environment and improving the lives of Africans so they can participate in the global economy. So there really wasn't that much for the media to concentrate on--a few innovative turns of phrase, a few photo ops.

[Winning09]

What big confrontation?

[Winning09]

Typically, there was more coverage of a routine meeting with the pope than anything else. The media is hopeless.

[cdub1991]

Ohhh--shiny, pretty pictures...

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

It's an easy, prefab story.

[Winning09]

The footage of the Obamas touring the old slave center is really something.

[Winning09]

The media firestorm over Michael Jackson and Sarah Palin was more much ado about nothing.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

It's easy and familiar.

[henryberry]

Obama's trip concerned mostly atmospherics (as a preceding post suggests in seeing it as "showcasing...") even though as much as he could, Obama tried to get some movement on global interests such as the environment and improving the lives of Africans so they can participate in the global economy. So there really wasn't that much for the media to concentrate on--a few innovative turns of phrase, a few photo ops. It will be months and months or years and years before complex arrangements or agreements are worked out regarding the interests Obama tried to raise and get at least some initial recognition of and movement on. One reason besides characteristic media disinterest in foreign affairs and any other topic which requires much thought for the limited coverage and spin-off analyses of Obama's trip is that with the lowered stature of the U.S. from the secrecies and atrocities of the Bush years, not many Americans are much interested in what Obama has to say or is doing regarding foreign affairs because not many foreigners are. Whatever Obama does or says does not carry much weight; and even with the wife and kids tagging along in an effort to give the appearance of freshness and animation, the entertainment value of the foreign trip was limited; and against the extravaganza of the Michael Jackson post-mortem and the challenge of figuring out the puzzle of Palin, Obama never had a chance.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

You apparently didn't read what I wrote, either in this piece or in the piece preceding it on the Moscow Summit.

What you're saying is simply wrong.

Incidentally, there is no "puzzle of Palin" to figure out.

> photo

Obama's trip concerned mostly atmospherics (as a preceding post suggests in seeing it as "showcasing...") even though as much as he could, Obama tried to get some movement on global interests such as the environment and improving the lives of Africans so they can participate in the global economy. So there really wasn't that much for the media to concentrate on--a few innovative turns of phrase, a few photo ops.

[henryberry]

Well - there's no room here for going into details - but in your piece, you did mention infotainment - which is mostly concerned with atmospherics, or style (such as Obama's daughter wearing a T-shirt with a peace symbol), or photo-ops (as Obama with the Pope) - or maybe you see that Obama did accomplish something substantive in this trip - but you'll have to point it out to me (and perhaps others) - maybe a topic for a later essay - since I didn't see it - by the way, I'm still waiting for something substantive to materialize from Obama's Cairo speech a while ago other than an increase in bombings in Iraq and increased American deaths in Afghanistan - I guess you've figured out Palin since you say she's no "puzzle" - please let the rest of the country in on this.

[Winning09]

Atmospherics? A previous post? What?!

[LizM]

Who needs the media!? This essay was a very enlightened, honest, and comprehensive summary of President Obama's fascinating travels through Russia, Italy and Ghana, all in the context of his important speeches in Prague and Cairo.

It is really amazing how much President Obama has already accomplished in terms of showcasing a new and improved face and promise of America. I just hope that the excitement around all of that doesn't produce any more unrealistic expectations because there is going to be a lot of heavy lifting on a lot of different fronts and another 'Augean Stables' speech from Vice President Biden may be in order.

And, it's going to be very interesting to watch the dynamics between Obama, Medvedev and Putin - I have a sneaky feeling that the general course of events may dictate that it is Putin who ends up having to deal with diminishing returns - but that's just me being ever the cockeyed optimist.

My favourite part... "The media is quickly at sea when foreign policy goes beyond Western Europe and the Middle East."

Quickly at sea, indeed! In fact, I'm thinking the media is pretty much lost once they get beyond the realm of their own personal space.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks very much. There's plenty of interesting material, much more interesting than the same old same old Sarah Palin.

[LizM]

Absolutely, positively, unequivocally!

[iridium53]

He would do better to stay home to actually lead and manage the federal government.

The stimulus plan is failing - except for the stimulus of bankster salaries.

His primary job is to be the head of the executive branch - and he is failing miserably at running the government.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

Actually, he has been doing just that.

There's been a fair amount of coverage. Though not on the Limbaugh show.

[cdub1991]

Oh good gravy--what nonsense.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

I assume you're referring to the claim that Obama hasn't been doing anything as president ...