Obama’s Legacy

Published in El Universal
(Mexico) on 8 January 2017
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Tom Walker. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
Since the moment that Barack Obama became president of the United States in 2008, and over the following eight years, the political situation in the world has changed significantly. Whether we’re talking about, among other issues, the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba, his support of the fight against climate change, the nuclear deal with Iran, or his refusal to send troops into Syria, his policies were very different from those of his predecessors, and represented a watershed in recent history. The legacy of this president, for the United States and for the whole world, is simply unquestionable.

Domestically, his presidency was marked by policies in the social sector which required a lot of effort to advance, and which have had a positive impact on the lives of millions of people, such as health care reform. Furthermore, in spite of the 2009 crisis, the Obama administration ended November 2016 with an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent, compared to 10 percent in 2009, according to U.S. Department of Labor data.

The achievements discussed above are undeniably important. Now, however, barely 12 days from the transition of power in the U.S. which will see the end of the Obama era and the beginning of the Donald Trump administration, the legacy of the first African-American U.S. president, as much at home as abroad, is in jeopardy, if not at outright risk of being destroyed by the New York tycoon.

Although it is clear that Trump – and with him the Republicans, who will have control of both houses of Congress – will try to highlight the differences between him and his predecessor in practically every area, we will have to see if his incendiary rhetoric about tearing down Obama’s great projects translates into real change. The tycoon does, for now, have the political and institutional framework for this, but it could make him very unpopular, both inside and outside the United States.

Regarding Mexico, for example, there also appears to be serious difficulty in giving concrete shape to Trump’s threats to reconfigure or scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement; doing so would require Trump to do battle on multiple fronts. The same goes for his threats to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

It is a fact that Trump is planning actions based on outdated economic paradigms like protectionism, even though this is completely unviable in the 21st century. Because of this, he will also have to address the human impact that his agenda would have.

Obama leaves the White House with several of his pledges unfulfilled and others still pending. In most cases, this was because of the immobility imposed on him by the Republicans or because of the complexity of the situations he was dealing with. However, he will leave his mark on history, which will have the responsibility of judging him.


La herencia de Obama

El universal (México)
Editorial
8 de enero de 2017

Con la llegada de Barack Obama a la Presidencia de Estados Unidos en 2008, y a lo largo de los siguientes ocho años, la configuración geopolítica mundial se ha transformado notablemente. Ya sea que hablemos de la reanudación de relaciones diplomáticas con Cuba, de su defensa de la lucha contra el cambio climático o del acuerdo nuclear con Irán, pasando por la negativa a intervenir con tropas en Siria, entre otras, sus directrices marcaron una gran diferencia respecto a sus antecesores, y un parteaguas en la historia reciente. La herencia de este mandatario, para EU y para el mundo entero, es sencillamente incuestionable.

Hacia el interior, políticas de corte social como la reforma de salud, el Obamacare, que en su momento costó mucho sacar adelante, marcaron su presidencia y se han reflejado positivamente en la vida de millones de personas. Además, y pese a la crisis de 2009, la administración Obama cierra, hasta noviembre de 2016, con una tasa de desempleo de 4.6%, a diferencia de la de 10% de 2009, según datos del Departamento del Trabajo de Estados Unidos.

No obstante la envergadura de lo anterior, a escasos 12 días de la transición de gobierno en EU, que dará fin a la era Obama y comienzo al gobierno de Donald Trump, el legado del primer presidente afroamericano de EU, tanto en el ámbito interno como en el escenario internacional, se encuentra en entredicho, si no es que en franco riesgo de ser destruido por el magnate neoyorkino.

Aunque es claro que Trump —y con él los republicanos, que tendrán dominio sobre las dos cámaras legislativas— intentará marcar la diferencia en prácticamente todos los ámbitos respecto a su antecesor, habrá que ver si su retórica explosiva sobre desmantelar los grandes proyectos de Obama se traduce en cambios reales -para los cuáles el magnate sí posee, por ahora, el andamiaje político e institucional— mismos que podrían acarrearle gran impopularidad dentro y fuera de EU.

En relación a México, por ejemplo, los amagos de Trump por reconfigurar o inhabilitar el TLCAN también se verán en grandes dificultades de concretarse, y de materializarse implicarán para Trump múltiples frentes de batalla. Lo mismo sus amenazas de deportar a millones de indocumentados.

A pesar de su total inviabilidad en el siglo XXI, es un hecho que Trump planea aplicar paradigmas económicos y comerciales del pasado, como el proteccionismo, pero justo por ello también deberá encarar el impacto humano que conllevaría su agenda.
Barack Obama deja la Casa Blanca con varias de sus promesas pendientes, otras inconclusas, en la mayoría de los casos por la inmovilidad a la que fue sometido por los republicanos o las complejas circunstancias que enfrentó. No obstante, su impronta queda para la historia, quién se encargará de juzgarlo.
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