Whether or not Obama is good for the people of the U.S. is the subject of a few articles published today Salon and The Nation.
Hooman Majd at Salon believes that Presidential hopeful Barack Obama would do much to heal diplomatic relations with other nations if he were to be elected president.
In his article Barack Obama, A new face for American diplomacy, Majd details why Obama would be a good president: “What is abundantly clear now — at least to many foreigners and particularly to Muslims in the Third World — is that Barack Obama is the candidate by far the best suited to begin healing that rift and restoring America’s global reputation, and perhaps even to begin reversing decades of anti-Americanism.”
He notes that most countries, except for most of the European ones, are more in support for Obama than the other potential nominees.
While an interesting article, Majd seems a bit too optimistic about what Obama may bring to the presidency (or maybe I’m being too pessimistic). This was the same person that said he would invade Pakistan without the approval of Pakistan’s government. Also,some of Majd’s arguments as to why Obama would be successful in foreign relations is too simplistic- the writer states that Obama’s Muslim sounding name would be a boon to him in regards to relations to Muslim countries.
In addition, Majd’s speculation about Obama siding with the Palestinian people – “And the basic perception, right or wrong, of him as someone with sympathies for oppressed people, and for Muslims in particular, will give him a tremendous negotiating advantage, whether with Palestinians, other Arabs or Iranians, for that matter, who largely view themselves as oppressed.” – is a bit off. While Obama opposes an Israeli separation barrier, he hasn’t said much else in the way of helping end the oppression of Palestinians.
Over at The Nation, author Tom Hayden writes of Barack Obama and his stand to end the war in Iraq by 2009. In his article ‘End the War in 2009′, Hayden details the challenges Obama faces from McCain and the Republicans by making this stand. Hayden essentially says that the debate will emerge to become Peace vs. War, with the Republicans trying to force Obama and the Democratic party to accept the ‘war on Islamofascim.’
Hayden concludes :
“The danger for Obama lies in being challenged by McCain, the neoconservatives and the right-wing conservatives to prove his credentials as a militarist or face being painted as another Democrat too weak to be Commander-in-Chief.
The opportunity for the peace movement is to engage in open political and intellectual battle, from precincts to public forums, against the neoconservative agenda for a permanent war against Muslim radicals and on behalf of American access to oil with dire consequences at home.”
It’s an intriguing article and definitely worth checking out.
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