A New Age, A New Way

In his Op-Ed column this morning, Nicholas Kristof, took a look at the remaking of America. He started out with a memory of the Web site The Onion, that deals in satire and in January of 2001 at the end of Bill Clinton’s presidency, it declared “Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is over. But what was designed as satire actually proved to be a very shrewd analysis. One measure of the bleak picture of the past eight years is that today The Onion looks equally astute when it says of the latest transition: “Black man given nation’s worst job.”
That man is making an excellent start, and news Web sites all over the world reflect the globe’s eagerness – even desperation – for American leadership.

The Guardian in Britain declared, “Let the remaking of America begin today.” The Independent called Inauguration Day “a day for hope.” In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of “a truly great hour for America” that offered “a multitude of opportunities.” The Times of India welcomed “a new beginning.” And in Northern Ireland, The Belfast Telegraph asked: “Can Obama save us all?” A BBC poll in 17 nations found that on average 67 percent believed that President Obama would improve America’s relations with the rest of the world; only 5 percent thought the opposite (or maybe feared that if they seemed critical of George W. Bush, they would be waterboarded).

Kristof says that two themes were particularly reassuring in Mr. Obama’s Inaugural Address. One was his inclusiveness, his effort to tug people into his big tent, a huge contrast from Mr. Bush’s years of governing from and ideological pup tent.

His inclusiveness started with his celebration of America as a patchwork of “Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers.” As far as Mr. Kristof knows, no other sitting president has dared to embrace atheists. (Thomas Jefferson did, but not while in office). President Obama was also the first president to use the word “Muslim” in an Inaugural Address. One of the important statements which was taken to be directed toward Iran and Syria, was “We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

The Bush/Cheney years put all the emphasis on “hard power” according to Joseph Nye, a Harvard professor, and they relied on “military hard power” and the result was set backs around the world.

According to David Sanger in his new book “The Inheritance”: “We pursued a path that has left us less admired by our allies, less feared by our enemies, and less capable of convincing the rest of the world that our economic and political model is worthy of emulation.”

The first attempt at soft power is the new White House Web site, complete with a White House blog. And in his speech he focused on soft power alongside hard power: “Our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.” I don’t know about you but, I don’t ever remember hearing any of the leaders of the Bush administration talk about “humility and restraint”. And tempering qualities? Cheney never wanted to temper anything, including his temper!

Professor Nye said that Mr. Obama’s inaugural was a perfect example of smart power. “That’s not going to make our adversaries roll over, but it’ll help in terms of mainstream Muslims and it’ll help in terms of allies. And it’ll give a very different tone to foreign policy.”

Roger Cohen, also of the New York Times, sat 30 feet from the podium and said that while Obama was not at his most uplifting, nor inspiring as he called in sober tones for a new “spirit of service” that will renew America and, through it, the world. And that was not a put down, Obama was making a point, there’s too much work to do for high rhetorical flourish. It was a spare inaugural speech, but there were still powerful phrases and signals that together amounted to an attempt to re-imagine a nation in crisis.

Responsibility, restraint, humility, peace: this is not the hatitual vocabulary of America’s heroic narrative. It constitutes a new lexicon of American power. Are Americans ready to die for responsibility? Perhaps not, but they may well seek dialogue in its name. “The world has changed – and we must change with it,” Obama said. Even change has changed now: no longer a clarion call, it is a responsibility.

Nicholas Kristof and Roger Cohen’s columns are so worth reading today, I would urge you to read them in them in their entirety.