Obama and Hamlet

The attacks on U.S. President Obama have intensified inside the U.S., accusing him of hesitation, a lack of settlement and an inability to transfer his ideas and promises to plans that change present U.S. policy, as he promised at the beginning of his administration. In fact, many people compare his political performance during this last period to Hamlet’s, the tragic hero who was captured by his ideas, hesitation and inability to act. Indeed, Obama is still hesitating to make decisions that should have been made in the Afghan crisis, especially concerning the increase of the number of U.S. forces by 40,000, as requested by his general there.

In the Middle East, the attacks on the U.S. president have also increased, accusing him of the same characterizations. This is because he yielded to Israeli pressure and deterred the Palestinians’ wish for the halting of settlement construction as an essential condition to resume negotiations between the two sides. In addition, his plan for reconciliation in the Middle East, which is an important priority in his policies, has not been started yet, despite the fact that eight months have passed without taking any steps that translate his ideas into real acts!

Regarding Europe, the French are asking, as President Sarkozy has asked, whether Obama suffers from weakness in his ability to make decisions. Many European countries are also expressing their dissatisfaction about Obama’s hesitation in regards to making a decision concerning the decreased volume of carbon emissions that the U.S. should commit to, as the Europeans, the Russians and the Chinese have all done before the Copenhagen climate change conference. This happened despite the fact that the European ministers of environment exerted pressure on the U.S. delegation. Moreover, the Europeans are unsatisfied because Obama has failed to express clear objectives for the Copenhagen conference and he delayed, under Congress’s pressure, the reduction of carbon emissions.

Therefore, there are increasing predictions that the Copenhagen conference can not achieve its essential goals, which include the hope of decreasing the volume of carbon emissions from industrial and developing countries. These goals stand on the amount of financial support rich countries will offer the growing countries in order to help them adapt to the difficult and disastrous consequences of climate change, especially in Africa.