Obama the Cheerleader. . . .

So now we have gone to Copenhagen and for what?, a European Summit?, to meet the Russians?, nope, to lobby for the old hometown to get the Olympics. The result?, Chicago comes in dead last, and rightly so. While I am supportive of the ideals of the Olympic movement, I do not see how this is a useful expenditure of Presidential time. Not with Afghanistan, the European Union, and the German Elections, and well, you get the picture. . . . The German election which has gotten almost no time in the U.S. Press was the subject of live coverage on BBC America's morning broadcast. While Merkel's vote totals declined 3% from the 2005 election the implosion of the Left opposition SPD, coupled with the rise of the FDP on the right shows the beginnings of a deteriorating Center in German Politics. The FDP has been a factor in West German and German politics since the 1960's. However, the decline of the SPD is far more worrisome, and the rise of a party consisting of the former communists of East Germany who support withdrawal from NATO, among other things, should give the U.S. pause. The Daily Telegraph has a decent write up on this phenomenon. Yet the U.S. reaction has been curiously muted, neither Republicans nor Democrats seem much interested in the doings of Europe, even though developments there should warrant greater attention in the U.S. Press. The last significant U.S. press comment appears to be about the U.S. bagging its commitment to a missile shield in Eastern Europe. This is not a bad idea, however, the political handling of the situation with the nations of Eastern Europe leaves much to be desired. The New York Times analysis is a case in point. The Times shows the technological limitations of such contraption, however, it soft peddles the political fall out. To wit:

"For Mr. Obama it is a step fraught with some risk. With hours of his announcement, charges were flying that in his first major confrontation with the Russians, he had back down, giving Moscow's opposition to the Bush plan to place missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic."

The in suing discussions in the press, and the reactions occurring in the various European capitals indicate that there was a lack of political preparation, and may have damaged U.S. standing in a part of the world which has backed U.S. interests. Yet, it appears that the Obama Administration has placed Europe on the back burner, and in the process, is frittering away the large store of good will that Obama came into office with.

Britain will now be clamouring for Mr. Obama's attention, now that Ireland has approved the Lisbon Treaty, and places Britain in a ticklish position politically with the newly empowered European Union. How will the U.S. deal with this? No one really knows, because the U.S. State Department has not commented, nor does there appear to be any ongoing consultations.

This is just the tip of the series of foreign policy conundrums faced by any U.S. administration at this time. Neither Republicans or Democrats seem the least bit interested in this. The lack of a domestic constituency keenly interested in foreign policy continues to hamper the United States in the post cold war era. We are still looking for an enemy to keep us awake at night, and we do not have one. Coherent foreign policy starts with an inventory of U.S. resources, and a serious discussion of our interests and priorities. We in the U.S. have been treated to a reactive foreign policy lacking in clear vision since the end of the cold war. While the Cold War vision was lacking for many things, at least, it had the virtue of setting the parameters for debate. Currently we do not even have that. We have the threat of the moment, the war of the moment, but no one seems to be able to tell the American people where they are going, and where they belong.

What about the U.N? Mr. Obama gave a nice speech, done in the middle of the U.S. working day, and most people got the 30 second summary on the national news. In listening to the speech it was full of subtle rhetorical flourishes, and some grounds for discussion. However, I heard exactly one comment about in the office. The comment was: "Obama wants to get rid of all nuclear weapons". If that is all that got through from the speech, then the nation, still has a problem.

Common sense foreign policy does not exist in the U.S. The policy making establishment has yet to create a common vision that will win broad support. It need to happen, it needs to happen now.