Fairness for Obama!

Fairness for Obama!

We should be pleased with the contrast with Bush–and not critical.

Obama in Berlin–not even the official candidate of the Democrats yet. Nevertheless, he has already changed his country. That will remain whether he wins or not.

The man has a message: The world finds itself in a time of transition that requires new thinking. He states the topics–for some he provides answers: for example that America and Europe are dependent on one another and even more so, that they carry a common responsibility. This is the renunciation of the single-handed actions by the Bush administration and the impetus for a revival of the transatlantic partnership. At the same time, both the Americans and the Europeans have their obligations to fulfill. The Europeans must speak with one voice and the Americans must reintegrate themselves into the alliance, in which they are the strongest partner, but not the Commanders in Chief.

Obama has not given a government declaration. He is on an election campaign and of course he had his domestic public in mind. But he has also turned to the World Community and they have listened to him.

Furthermore, the more than two hundred thousand who came, agreed with him frequently and enthusiastically, especially when it was about freedom and human dignity, about global justice, about a world order of cooperation in the place of confrontation. He spoke of the necessity of working together with that large European folk, Russia. He spoke of the urgency of nuclear disarmament, of the already existent obligations of the nonproliferation treaty, which continue to be supported by Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, Sam Nunn and William Perry. However, their plea still has yet to receive a positive reaction from the Europeans.

But they did welcome his shift to climate protection and to a multipolar world order with equal opportunities for all regions. No one should be surprised that Obama has expectations for Europe, since Europe also has expectations for the USA. A common obligation to our soldiers and their families, for example, is a strategic concept for the Afghanistan mission.

For some, it is obviously difficult to be pleased about the positive reception of Obama in Berlin. In the past, every criticism of the Bush administration was used as a warning against anti-Americanism. The fact that Obama was welcomed so cordially should also show the last of them that not every criticism towards Bush is a criticism towards the Americans. It is not only in America that Obama is felt to be a contrast to Bush. This would also explain the careful, but nevertheless clearly visible distance that McCain has kept between himself and Bush.

The world in transition: This also includes the insight that the new world order will only be stable when it can be considered to be fair all over the world because it is based on equal rights and equality.

In Berlin, Obama paid his respect to the Berliners for their bravery. It was these people who tore down the wall. The word wall was repeated often in his speech, as a warning to the western world not to be led astray by the barricade thinking of a society based on the protection of vested rights. One is reminded of the old Chinese saying, “When the winds of change blow, some build walls, and some build windmills.” The position of Americans and the Europeans can only be with those who build windmills.

Let’s wait to see who the next president will be and how he outlines his program. Rash judgments are inadequate and the attempt to accuse a younger candidate of lacking in experience-–to even characterize him as a novice, is unfair. After all, when it came to saying yes or no to the disastrous war in Iraq, Obama belonged to the few who, according to their judgment and their responsibility, said a clear “No.” Therefore, fairness for Obama.

(The author was the German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1974 to 1992.)