BRUSSELS - If "change" and "hope" were the watchwords of US president-elect
Barack Obama's election campaign, they were echoed strongly on the other side
of the Atlantic, where his victory was swiftly applauded by Europe's political
leaders.
Whereas George W Bush proved to be a divisive figure for the European Union -
particularly with the invasion of Iraq - Obama's apparent preference for
cooperation and dialogue over conflict have won him plenty of admirers.
Expectations are running high that he will waste no time in grappling with the
world's most pressing problems such as climate change. His long-term commitment
to an 80% cut in
greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this century and shorter-term pledge
to be represented at the international negotiations on global warming in
Poznan, Poland, later this year, have been noted by ecologists and
policy-makers alike.
Such commitments were in stark contrast to the policy of the Bush
administration, which refused to ratify the main international agreement on
global warming, the Kyoto Protocol.
Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said he wished
to see a "new deal" involving the European Union and the US, referring to the
economic stimulus package introduced by Washington in response to the Great
Depression of the 1930s. The issues dealt with in this Atlantic-straddling
partnership should include human rights, trade, the environment, the financial
crisis and the fight against global poverty. "The current financial crisis can
become a new opportunity for global governance," said Barroso.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president whose country is currently in charge of
drawing up the EU's political agenda, has taken a close interest in Obama's
campaign. His adviser Pierre Giacometti has even spent a week "embedded" with
Democratic Party strategists in the US to see if their tactics could be
employed by Sarkozy's center-right UMP party.
"At a moment when we should face immense challenges together, your election
inspires an immense hope in France, Europe and the world beyond," Sarkozy wrote
in a letter to Obama. "This is a hope of an America open, strong and
compassionate that will once again lead the way, with its partners, by the
strength of example and by adhering to its principles."
Similar sentiments were expressed by members of the European parliament (MEPs).
The assembly's president, German conservative Hans-Gert Poettering, said that
Obama's election had "proven once again the extraordinary capacity for renewal
which has so often been evident at difficult moments in American history".
Left-leaning MEPs called on Obama to ensure that the systematic abuses of human
rights with which Bush's "war on terror" became synonymous are never repeated.
They demanded the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, and guarantees
that there will be no further torture of prisoners as part of the so-called
extraordinary rendition programme undertaken by the Central Intelligence
Agency.
"The victory of president Obama could restore credibility and effectiveness in
the fight against international terrorism," said Italian socialist Claudio
Fava. "Credibility died under the Bush government because of the illegal,
amoral and, above all, unnecessary extraordinary renditions. The Obama
presidency could start a new era in EU-US relations - without American
arrogance and, at the same time, without European submission."
But some commentators indicated there is a strong likelihood that Obama could
end up disappointing those Europeans who want him to usher in a clean break
with the past.
Fraser Cameron, an adviser to the Brussels-based think-tank, the European
Policy Center, argued that while Obama is considerably more favorable towards
working with the United Nations than Bush was, he has nonetheless "reserved the
right to take unilateral action" under particular circumstances. Because Bush
has bequeathed Obama such tricky problems as Iraq and a perilous economy,
Obama's victory will "not necessarily lead to a sustained improvement in ties"
with the EU, Cameron wrote in European Voice, a weekly newspaper.
Perhaps the greatest irony behind how Obama was the clear favorite on this
continent is that representatives of ethnic minorities are absent at the
highest levels of European politics.
In France, the only black members of the National Assembly hail from the
country's overseas territories. And in Britain the number of representatives of
the 646-seat House of Commons hailing from Asian or African backgrounds
returned in the same election has never exceeded five.
"There is something odd about the European mania for a black American
politician, even as we all know that a black president or prime minister - let
alone one whose middle name is Hussein - is still unthinkable in Europe," said
Ian Buruma, professor of human rights at Bard College in New York. "Obama's
election has demonstrated that things are still achievable in the US that
remain unthinkable elsewhere. As long as this is so, the US, as first among
equals, can still be looked up to as the defender of our freedoms."
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
