Obama Nation. Rating the President’s First Year in Office

Roundtable at LSE

20/01-10, Wednesday

Speakers:

Lord William Wallace (chair), Dr. Robin Niblett, Professor Rob Singh, BBC’s Justin Webb, Professor Michael Cox.

Notables in the audience: Barry Buzan.

Dr. Robin Niblett: Fruitless reengagment. Despite Obama’s intensions and considerable efforts to reengage with the world, most of the major international problems remains unresolved. This is, Niblett argued, probably due to the relative decline in US power. He also pointed to five aspects he meant it was important to look into if one wants to understand Obama’s foreign policy. (1) US is today seen as a part of the problem, rather than as a part of the solution to international problems such as climate change, etc. (2) New powers are rising, most notably China. (3) Regionalism is on the rise, the increased importance of the G20. (4) There is a global political awakening. (5) Domestic contestation within the US.

BBC’s Justin Webb: The public’s enemy. According to Webb, Obama is considerable more attractive to foreigners than to his own people. He lacks, in Webb’s word, the ability to connect with his own people, something his ”I’m not Nancy Reagan”, as well as his unfortunate ”special olympics” remarks clearly shows. He argued that Obama should have ”turned down the Nobel Peace Prize”, that White House staffers thought it was a joke, and that he must pass the health care bill (which a majority of Americans oppose, although it would benefit most of them, according to Webb) if he wants to maintain the ability to project power abroad. Interestingly, he also said that he can, if he dares to use his political leverage (i.e. go to Congress and tell them that its an emergency, and thus get it through before Scott Brown takes office).

Professor Michael Cox: Lost revolution. Cox cautioned against jumping to conclusions and says it is too early to tell whether Obama will be able to fulfill his promises (concerning Iran, Israel/Palestine, Guantanamo). He recognized, however, that there had been a mood change since the beginning of his presidency, and said that the ”revolutionary moment has passed”. Referring to Tatcher’s, ”politics is about alternatives”, he also raised the question of what an alternative to Obama’s presidency (McCain/Palin) would have looked like. And Cox is still not in doubt, it would have been far worse.