The German Times, November 2008
Europe is over the moon. The U.S. has a new president and Europe’s candidate won the contest. Habemus Obama.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was one of the first to congratulate the man who just became the most powerful politician in the world: “At a time when all of us must face huge challenges together, your election raises great hope in France, in Europe and elsewhere in the world.” European Commission President José Manuel Barroso also chimed in: “This is a time for a renewed commitment between Europe and the United States of America. We need to change the current crisis into a new opportunity. We need a new deal for a new world.”
The expectations that Europe and even much of the world have placed on Barack Obama’s shoulders are huge. The U.S. president-elect starkly listed the challenges himself in his acceptance speech: “Two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.”
But despite Obama’s call for a “new spirit of patriotism” and his proclamation of a “new dawn of American leadership,” he will have to recognize that only through cooperation can the world save itself. Following this watershed contest, the global community expects new American policies leading to a more peaceful and just world where climate protection is taken far more seriously. People want the U.S. to abandon the go-it-alone approach favored by the current occupant of the White House, which led the United States into a dead end in so many ways.
But will the new American president say, my dear European friends, we agree with you, you were right: We’re ready to learn from you, whether it’s in Iraq or Afghanistan, to save the climate or to put the brakes on the limitless power of the financial markets. To expect that would mean to severely overestimate Europe’s importance for the U.S. as well as underestimating the Americans’ strong belief in their own capabilities.
The new president will first and foremost focus on rebuilding the nation and looking out for the interests of his countrymen – meaning primarily the creation of new jobs. The U.S. could conceivably isolate itself during a recession, just like Franklin D. Roosevelt did following the global economic crisis in the 1930s. The goal is likely to prop up domestic producers.
American protectionism would clearly not benefit a major exporting power such as Germany, which last year delivered about €74 billion ($96 billion) worth of goods to North America. Asia would face a nightmare scenario if the U.S. and then Europe were to isolate themselves: These countries are pushing for more globalization since they have finally become beneficiaries of global development.
The world can only win the battle for the future if all parties pledge unequivocally to work together. We’re all in the same boat. That means that politicians need to work together to better regulate that invisible hand so important to guiding the market. And what if the new president is not prepared to work jointly on overhauling the financial market? Then a joint attempt by the international community sans the U.S. support would probably be doomed to failure just like the Kyoto protocol on climate change was.
The idea that European and Asian countries cooperate more closely – without U.S. participation – is simply not imaginable. And none of those bilateral partnerships – the U.S. and China, the U.S. and Europe or China and Europe – can tackle the world’s problems on their own without help from the third party. Patience and perseverance are required. The world is more secure on three feet rather than two.