The bipartite composition of the committee [headed to Russia] suggests that its recommendations will be sought both by Democratic candidate Barak Obama and by his rival John McCain, whose positions, according to polls, remain close.
Obama remains insistent that the U.S. must lead the rest of the world and that the 21st century should, like the one preceding it, have the U.S. at the helm. But upon hearing him say these words now, one cannot help but feel that he lacks the wherewithal to back them up.
It would be a mistake for the coalition to keep ignoring and taking lightly what he has said, as it would be for us to face the crisis with the comforting delusions that it will only go where we want it to go.