On Nov. 4, people all over the world gathered to watch the outcome of one of the most pivotal United States elections in decades. A headline from The Guardian called the election “Momentous, spine-tingling, absurd: an election like never before.” A victory for Barack Obama was portrayed as a change in U.S. politics, and to world leaders, the possibility for change in the United States’ relationship with other countries. As The Guardian headline shows, the election sent a strong, symbolic message to the rest of the world.
In a time of war and great economic turmoil, however, being a symbol is not enough. Now, with the whole world watching, President-elect Barack Obama must deliver.
The decisions Obama makes will have an enormous affect on the way the international community views the United States. From participation in treaties to creating strong diplomatic ties, the president-elect has much on his plate in terms of U.S.-foreign relations.
“The United States has lost its legitimacy and it’s not going to come back,” said Laura Reed, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts. “Sadly, once that’s gone, the United States has this baggage and the next generation for the next decades ahead. It’s not something that can be easily changed.”
Since the United States has lost much of its credibility in the past decade, it is important for Obama to quickly address foreign policy issues. Doing this immediately upon entering the executive office would send a strong signal that he is ready to get things done. The continuing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are two challenges on the front burner for Obama.
UMass VOICE IT: What should Obama do about the troops in Iraq? See more student responses.
During his campaign, Obama made it clear he wanted to withdraw troops from Iraq, and that he planned on raising troop levels in Afghanistan. The implications of such a maneuver are complex as it would be difficult to increase troop levels in Afghanistan without troop withdrawal in Iraq. Huda Yehia, a translator for the U.S. army now working on the UMass campus, explains the ramifications of troop withdrawal on the citizens of Iraq.
“Lots of people back home depend on American soldiers in their daily activities,” Yehia said. “Basically they secure the neighborhood. If there is a unit in a given neighborhood there are no problems. If that unit disappears than the insurgents come back.”
Professor Stephen Watts, of the UMass Amherst political science department, explains that under an Obama administration, the countries that the U.S. interacts with will not change, but the way they interact will.
“The main issue is that they will be getting different kinds of attention,” Watts said. “The biggest issues that he talked about were the same ones as the Bush administration. It’s just that he was taking them in a very different direction.”
One such country with whom U.S. interactions may change is Iran.
“The United States doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Iran,” Reed said. “One of the biggest steps was we have to work through the Swiss embassy to communicate with this government.”
For this reason, the United States has to work multilaterally to establish a positive relationship with Iran – a change from the way the U.S. conducted itself with regards to Iraq.
“Because we’re very strong, we have more leverage working through the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) as well as the European Union,” Reed added.
Watts agrees that working with the IAEA poses a great opportunity to work peacefully with Iran.
“There is a moment right now, working through the International Atomic Energy Agency, to get Iran back on track in terms of trying to reign in concerns about their civilian nuclear programs and research, trying to get them back on board with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, and, again, it’s in their economic interest,” he said.
This provides a great opportunity for Obama to work multilaterally and create a lasting positive relationship with a country that George W. Bush labeled a part of the “axis of evil.”
While Obama does have an opportunity to turn the current situation with Iran into something constructive, Watts explains that with the economic crisis at home, it will be a difficult thing to do.
“I just don’t know, given the economic crisis and pressing national security issues, that there is going to be any oxygen left for initiatives on these lines to get any sort of attention,” Watts said, adding that, “breathing space from the economy is the most important thing so that he has enough time to do more than be in a reactive crisis management mode.”
There is a small window of time after being elected, when all eyes are on the new president, that Obama can make important symbolic decisions. However, Watts believes, these decisions need to be well thought out.
There is no doubt that President-elect Barack Obama has a lot of work ahead in the realm of foreign policy, and it may take more than a four-year term to get this work accomplished. The task is daunting, and as Watts reflects, “it’s going to take a considerable amount of time before people believe that the United States can exercise leadership that, on balance, does more good than harm.”
