Barack Obama: Mediator Extraordinaire?

The tone has undeniably changed. Even more than on economic matters, we expected a lot from Barack Obama on the superpower’s foreign policy. With the speech given at the University of Cairo, the young president has sealed a first round of planetary observations not lacking in promises.

The week was loaded with symbols. After the agreement of the United States Wednesday to reinstate Cuba into the Organization of American States (OAS), the explicit recognition yesterday of Tehran’s right to nuclear energy confirmed the new willingness of the United States to talk. Evidently, the call to Iranians, days ahead of their presidential ballot, looks to weaken the candidate Ahmadinejad in the first place. But the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict also emphasizes this evolution. Thus, after the required passage about the “unwavering bond” with Israel and mention of the “two-state solution,” the American president brought up “Palestinian suffering” and dropped in this stark sentence: “It is time for these settlements to stop.”

The signs of a balance in the American position are coupled with defense in favor of religious tolerance and respect for Islam, which clearly cuts away from the appeals for crusade made by George W. Bush. All in all, whereas his predecessor had made a mistake as emperor-missionary, Barack Obama plays the “good leader” card, ready to co-manage, on equal footing, the planet’s problems. The tone has changed, yes, but has the politics? By calling on the good will of the Israelis and the Palestinians, back to back, Barack Obama tries to place himself, like Bill Clinton once did, in the role of mediator. But Israel’s intransigence will make this a really untenable position. No one will ignore that – without the military, and financial and political aid from across the Atlantic – the occupation of the Palestinian territories would already be only an ugly memory.

The American political class already appears to have decided to maintain this geo-strategic priority alliance with Israel. Last week, more than 400 representatives reminded their president that his mission wasn’t to favor a just and equitable peace but to “help Israel make peace with its neighbors” … mediator and hostage of a lobby: not exactly a sound marriage!

Without denying the directional change proposed by Barack Obama, until there is proof to the contrary, the imperial dimensions of American politics will continue to dominate. The president can talk up the retreat from Iraq (once certain of its resources have been seized), but this doesn’t keep the military budget from getting larger still (750 billion dollars!) and can send GIs into Afghanistan and Pakistan. Showing America to be a respectful partner of sovereign nations is fundamentally hypocritical when the USA has hundreds of bases around the world. This fact proves whom they’re serving! The Arab world – and much of the Southern hemisphere – will perhaps begin to believe that the United States has changed: when its president can give some apology for the invasion of Iraq and renounce its imperial panache.