Obama's New Shoes

America appears to have transformed. Until Sunday, Republican praise for Barack Obama seemed unthinkable. Now, they are commending his resolve in the search for bin Laden and his courage to risk the capture in Pakistan. The 2001 attack in New York plunged an unprepared country into a new era of foreign policy. For a decade, the hunt for al-Qaida stood in the foreground. The president wanted change, and the severe financial crisis emerged as a new threat — but the mindset remained: The threat of terror determined America’s dealings with the world. Obama had to slip into Bush’s shoes, whether he wanted to or not, and endure suspicion that they might be too big for him when it came to defending against terror.

Now, he can toss them in the corner. He has achieved what eluded Bush.

Bid Laden’s death closes a chapter. Not because the threat of terror was removed or Afghanistan will now become a stable country. More important than the concrete ramifications for the situational analysis of foreign politicians, military service members and secret service agents is the psychological effect. America can detach itself from its manic fixation on al-Qaida. But now Obama has a chance to free the U.S. from the old ways of thinking and test out new strategies in global politics.

Up until this point in his term, and particularly in recent months, the following has been true: Geopolitics have transformed faster than the handling of it. Most notably, the Arab world has changed more starkly than the Arab politics of the United States. There’s certainly one thing America and Arabia now have in common: Liberation from thought and power structures doesn’t automatically lead to an epochal change. It simply opens up the chance to usher in a new era. Many of the actual parameters remain unchanged. New options are accompanied by new risks.

For example, Afghanistan and Pakistan: One way or another, America and NATO wanted to begin with troop reductions in July and gradually hand off responsibility for the provinces. Bin Laden’s death makes this easier. Obama can say: “Mission accomplished!” Little has changed in regards to the security situation. Besides, Pakistan’s double-dealing operates more perfidiously than one in the West would assume. Who would believe that the government and secret service had no idea about bin Laden’s hideout? The region remains explosive; only withdrawal is becoming simpler.

The developments in Palestine, Egypt and Syria are putting the collective Middle East policy of America and Europe to a difficult test. In the EU, many are of the opinion that the so-called reconciliation of Fatah and Hamas is making mediation easier because the Palestinians will soon speak with one voice. In the U.S., the view is reversed. A joint Hamas-Fatah government impedes all progress, at least as long as Hamas rejects the basic conditions of a dialogue: recognition of the state of Israel and of the current treaties. Strictly speaking, the U.S. must end its financial support of the Palestinian National Authority, as stipulated by Congress. And will a democratic Egypt advance the cause of peace or permit new tunnels for weapons smuggling? Is Syria more predictable as a dictatorship or a nation in upheaval?

Obama is now wearing his own shoes, which are perhaps even a size bigger than Bush’s. Where will they carry him and the world?