"IF WE'RE an arrogant nation, they will resent us. If we're a humble nation, but strong, they will welcome us." - George W. Bush, Oct. 11, 2000.
Such lofty sentiments, such disastrous results. It's possible that Bush didn't believe those lines when he uttered them in his second debate against Al Gore, for he is an arrogant man and it's difficult to see how he could have led America in anything but an arrogant direction. It's also possible that he did believe in "strategic humility," as he later put it, but that he abandoned that belief to the exigencies of the war on terrorism after Sept. 11, 2001. Or it could be that like his ideological forbear, Ronald Reagan, Bush is simply too detached from the everyday demands of his presidency to notice when policies carried on in his name contradict his previously stated belief in small government, balanced budgets and, yes, enlightened world leadership.
One way or another, America has become an arrogant nation under George W. Bush and the first task of the next president is to change that. And for that task, the best next president we could pick is Barack Obama.
The junior senator from Illinois brought his campaign to Charlottesville Monday night, packing the Downtown Mall Pavilion for a rally that was admittedly long on hype and short on substance. But he made quite clear his belief that American foreign policy ought to make a U-turn in both style and substance under the next administration.
"I do not accept that there's a contradiction between our national security and our standing in the world," Obama said. "Those things aren't contradictory, they're complementary."
Sounds a bit like candidate Bush. But unlike President Bush, Obama's policies reflect an understanding of the extent to which international perceptions of America as the benign superpower contributed to American security in the pre-Bush era. Monday, Obama reiterated his intention to withdraw American troops from Iraq in short order, ending a conflict that has been a political and strategic disaster for the United States, as well as his intention to close down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, which has become an international symbol of the moral bankruptcy of the Bush administration. He also declared a willingness to meet with any foreign leader, friendly or otherwise, and a commitment to ending the "climate of fear" that has informed American foreign policy under the Bush administration.
These days, Bush barely pays lip service to multilateralism and he can't resist the urge to tear up a treaty, dismiss an ally or even start a war when he thinks he can get away with it. By contrast, Obama seems to recognize that the genius of American foreign policy has long been in using our superpower not to threaten other nations, but to create international systems of security and economy that other nations have a stake in preserving. "I want to go before the United Nations as the next president," Obama said, "And tell them that America is back and America is ready to lead."
Similar things have been said by most of the Democratic candidates, but what sets Obama apart is the fact that he is more a man of the world than any of them. The son of a Kenyan and a Kansan, Obama was raised in Hawaii and, for several years, in Indonesia, before moving on to California, New York and Chicago. It's easy to overstate the value of international bloodlines or time spent living abroad, but it's not farfetched to think that a president who has lived among the poor of other countries would have a nuanced understanding of their aspirations that would show up in his foreign policy. President Bush has encouraged the belief that our enemies are animated by some blind desire to harm America, but President Obama might realize that most of them would settle for security, stability and some measure of dignity in life.
Of course, Obama lacks experience at the high levels of government where big foreign policy decisions are made. But who cares? Few modern presidents have had meaningful foreign policy experience upon taking office and, as the Bush administration has taught us, experience is no substitute for good judgment. Obama has a short résumé, to be sure, but he has a mature vision for our role in the world that may yet fulfill Bush's stillborn ideal of a humble America, strong enough to defend itself and smart enough to avoid giving needless threats or slights.
The single greatest failure of the Bush administration was to abandon America's longtime commitment to peaceful world leadership for a foreign policy of fear and violence that inspires our enemies and alienates our most natural allies. As Gov. Tim Kaine said by way of introduction, "Barack Obama has a unique ability to send a message to the rest of the world" that the enlightened America is back.
Alec Solotorovsky's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at asolotorovsky@cavalierdaily.com.
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