Obama Exceptionalism

Michael Scherer of TIME has decided that since “Obama had just finished his fourth major address on international affairs in as many months, and . . . has now traveled the world, from Riyadh to Cairo and from London to Moscow,” it’s a good time to look at “the outline of Obama's operating philosophy of world affairs,” and at “five of its central pillars.” (What is it about Obama and pillars??)

So here are Scherer’s temple column-sized conclusions about Obma’s foreign policy:

➢ His election as the first black President of goatherd ancestry and foreign upbringing will change geopolitical dynamics. His message: “If I can do it, so can you,” a message targeted directly at the people of the world, not their governments.

➢ Obama preaches that we listen to different views, understand the various motivations and then focus on the commonalities, not the differences. Obama says, “Changes in foreign policy approaches by my Administration [mean] they are more likely to want to cooperate than not cooperate."

➢ in contrast to George W. Bush’s Panglossian effort to remake whole parts of the world under the banner of American moral authority, Obama has sworn off punishing foreign misbehavior by cutting off diplomatic ties or ending direct conversation, and still hopes to meet Iran’s leaders at the negotiating table before September [my emphasis] to discuss Iran's nuclear program.

➢ Obama believes America's fate is tied to that of developing nations, and that "The fact that I am very proud of my country — and I think that we've got a whole lot to offer the world — does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we're not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise, and that includes us."

➢ Obama has adopted the mantle of chief youth inspirer, saying directly through television cameras, "You get to decide what comes next. You get to choose where change will take us," and "The world will be what you make of it."

In short, American voters elevated Obama to the place where he talks directly to the world as a father to a child. Or as Newsweek’s Evan Thomas said, “Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God."

Obama is certainly well beyond any American who believes in "American Exceptionalism". As Liz Cheney (Dick’s eldest daughter), writing in the Wall Street Journal, notes,

Asked . . . whether he believed in American exceptionalism, the president said, "I believe in American Exceptionalism just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." In other words, not so much. The Obama administration does seem to believe in another kind of exceptionalism -- Obama exceptionalism. "We have the best brand on Earth: the Obama brand," one Obama handler has said.

Of course, Scherer’s bit about Obama and Iran is troublesome. Obama displays a (some would say) Bush-like level of stubbornness in refusing to give up the idea that the mullahs will want to break bread with him to solve the nuclear problem. Talk about Panglossian! Luiza Savage, writing in the Canadian journal Maclean's, explains it this way:

Obama remains hopeful because, as he puts it, Iran’s “governing elites are going through a struggle that has been mirrored painfully and powerfully on the streets.”

So Obama thinks the youth of Iran—and I mean this—partly because they are inspired by Obama’s story and his outreach to them, are already fixing the country by pressuring the mullahs to do the right thing.

Bush foreign policy: change the world by encouraging democratic governments in place of bad dictators.

Obama foreign policy: change the world by inspiring each nation’s youth to overthrow their bad dictators.