Serious Ordeals Face the New American President

The curtain has been brought down after a two-year-long U.S. presidential election. According to preliminary statistics, Obama won a 350-vote landslide over Mccain’s 160, becoming the first black president in American history, and beginning a new chapter for America.

It might be considered that being an African American, Obama won this victory by hard work, and that is a matter for congratulations. But as the “excitement” dies down, what’s waiting for him is no longer simply the affections of his fans but a series of delicate problems. Obama has himself acknowledged the serious ordeals that confront him: as his victory speech says, “two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century”.; “The road ahead will be long.”

The first urgent task of the new president is to bring the $700 billion rescue plan of the last administration into effect. But if this plan fails to work, will he bring out a new one? In the past, the two candidates focused mainly on attacking each other so as to win the election, rather than on working out detailed feasible financial plans. This despite America losing in under a year, up to October, more than 700 thousand dollars.

Second, when the new president steps into the White House, he will find that not only has he taken over an economic mess, but also an empty safe box, and, making things still worse, the government is burdened with debt. U.S. government statistics showed a record budget deficit of $455 billion at the end of September; and the deficit will swell to a record one trillion dollars next year. Furthermore, there is a ten-trillion-dollar national debt. Neither candidate answered clearly reporters’ questions as to where this great sum of money would be obtained. At the time, Obama said only that he would delay reversing President Bush’s tax cut on wealthy Americans, whilst allowing cuts in income tax rates so as to increase incomes. At the same time he would put a stop to ineffective government expenses. The media and economists believed that the plans of both candidates to increase income were far from adequate, but what was certain was that the new U.S. administration and Americans had to tighten their belts for a couple of years.

Biden said that it would not be six months before the international crisis tested Obama, and this would show the world the ability of America’s new president in dealing with international affairs. President Bush’s only accomplishment was his improvement in the nuclear problem in DPRK. but no one could rest assured that no new problems would crop up unexpectedly. On Iran’s nuclear issue, McCain sang “bomb-bomb Iran”. Obama meanwhile emphasized that to solve the issue there was a need for negotiation combined with the economic sanctions. It is possible however that neither stick nor carrot will end in the result expected by America.

President Bush’s “Middle East New Peace Plan” is unlikely to be achieved by the end of this year. And there are the unknowns of the Israeli election at the beginning of next year: if centrists who support peace talks come into power, then the American new president can be optimistic, and may also be willing to support Israel; but if hardliners who oppose peace talk assume the reins of government and insist on expanding the settlement area, then the new U.S. administration will have no choice but, unwillingly, let it be.

Even though the tension in Iraq is lessening, the situation in Afghanistan is worsening. Obama is inclined to pull U.S. forces out of Iraq and send two more combat brigades to Afghanistan. However he can not manage the lack of forces. NATO’s supreme commander in Afghanistan said that they needed more than one or two brigades, but 20,000 soldiers at least. How to persuade the NATO alliance to dispatch troops to Afghanistan will be another big test for the new president in terms of his diplomacy and power to influence.

A European opinion poll showed that if Obama were to be elected America’s global image would be restored and the damaged relationship among allied countries would be improved. But because of each countries’ own interests and feelings against war, it won’t be easy to make allied countries dispatch more troops.

On the whole, as the old saying goes, “Easy to promise, hard to fulfill”. After the excitement over being elected, the new American president will be confronted with a good many intractable problems and acid tests.