Where the US should go from here

I stayed up till 1.30am to watch Obama’s speech (I’m on the other side of the world).

By the way, those of you who would like a transcript, you can find it here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-obama-speech-090120,0,1085546.story?page=1

I think the speech was alright. It had many strong points, but overall, the speech fell a little flat. It felt like a whole bunch of disparate ideas where dumped into the mixer, but not blended too well. I was talking about it with Varun, who was arguing that Obama needed to touch on a lot of different points, to declare his stance towards many different issues for different people. Ok. But I don’t think that precludes a speech that is tied together by one prominent idea.

Look at MLK’s speech – “I have a dream”. What made the speech better than the sum of its parts was the fact that it was tied together by “I have a dream”. A recurring theme throughout a speech is a powerful oratory tool which Obama neglected to use.

Having a unifying theme, like “America, it’s time for us to say enough is enough”, or “Yes we can” did wonders for his previous speeches – wish he could have done that here.

Not to say the speech wasn’t good. Just wasn’t Obama standard, haha.

A speech should be more than just the sum of its parts. With his previous record, Obama could have done way better. As it stood, it was just a summary of his positions, sprinkled with a bunch of sound bites. Anyone could have done it. As the first black president, sworn in at such a critical time in America’s history, he had the opportunity to deliver a speech forever to be remembered, but he was not able to step up to the plate.

My favourite part of the speech though, was:

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

As an international citizen, and as a student of International Relations, this section of the speech really spoke to me. For the past 8 years, the US had dropped the policy of engagement advanced by Bill Clinton, in favour of containment policies advocated by some realists. US policies towards China were more confrontational, and the use of international diplomacy seemed more afterthought than the chief course of action.

In all honesty, I’m a realist myself, and those policies make sense to me. A country should always be concerned with its self interests foremost. The problems I had with Bush’s policies were that

1. Bad decision making – the Iraqi war did not advance the US interests. I saw that coming before the war… False pretenses for starting the war aside, it was not going to advance America’s security (causes too much hatred, affects too many innocents, removes the Saddam regime, which was anti-Al Qaida), and it would not be cheap, nor quick. And my predictions were vindicated.

2. He was waaaayyy too transparent. It’s one thing to fear China’s rise (with good reason, in my opinion), and to be tough on governments that harbour terrorists. It’s quite another to come straight out and say it. The whole “axis of evil” thing really takes the award for “dumbest thing you should never have said out loud”.

You see, it’s one thing to be wary of your enemies. But you don’t have to tell them all about it. That just breeds resentment in the common people, which really -does you no good-. This was the problem with much of the US war on terror. I’m all for invasion if it advances security. But in the case of the US, the wars undermined US security by generating so much animosity. It was a bad call that I know Obama will avoid making again.

The great thing Obama has done with that part of his speech is to align the US with everyone internationally. Telling Iranians that they’re part of the axis of evil does not side them with you.. you only provide fodder for terrorist recruitment. Giving warm fuzzy speeches -enhances- your security by proposing a lower threat to others, and at the same time, does not preclude you from strong actions against your enemies. The Bush administration was too straight talking, and forgot the intricacies of diplomacy, or that hidden daggers are more dangerous and more powerful than proclaimed intentions of violence. I hope Obama doesn’t move to the other extreme of really being the dove he says he is (because as nice as that would be, it won’t be in the interests of the USA). But I think he’ll do fine.

I dearly hope that Obama will have a much more successful presidency. The world could benefit from a stronger, better US. Obama has the charm and a strong power over words. Now lets hope he can shape reality with the same deft touch. Obama, the whole world is depending on you.