No doubt about it, we are in deep trouble with respect to both the economy and foreign policy. Having enjoyed a career as an economist, and having spent part of that career abroad, I have a deep interest in both topics. While it will take some time to get us out of this jam, the election of Barack Obama bodes well. Let's take a look at why his election signals hope for a more pragmatic foreign policy and its practical implications for the economy and everyday Americans.
For two years during the mid-eighties, I was visiting professor at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. As we already have seen, people from all over the world, and especially from Africa and Kenya, are elated that Americans would elect a president with African roots. Surely, world opinion of America is enhanced.
So why does it matter? Why should we care what the world thinks of America? And how does this affect everyday Americans? Read on.
My second major international experience was in the Middle East. I arrived in the Sultanate of Oman to head the agricultural economics department of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in August 2001- just prior to 9/11. There is no doubt, America at that time held the moral high ground and had the sympathy and respect of the world. SQU is staffed by an international faculty, and the students all are from Oman. Countless people personally expressed their regrets to me that such a debacle could occur. Editorials of the Middle Eastern newspapers were totally with us.
During the following years, especially after the invasion of Iraq, world opinion of America declined precipitously. However, the same polls that showed a decline in opinion of America showed the same respondents nevertheless still held Americans as individuals in high regard. I never experienced negativity toward me personally, and other Americans tell me the same thing - that Americans abroad generally are liked by others, that is, as long as we give them a chance.
By now, it already is clear that the world at large - Asia, Africa, Europe included - is elated with the election of Barack Obama. The good will toward our president-elect surely will rub off on our entire nation.
It matters because there still is an existing real threat to America by a relatively few extremists. How we perceive this threat, and how we deal with it, has profound implications for our national security, our economic security, and our everyday lives.
Let's follow the chain of reasoning, beginning with the perception of this threat. I like to quote National Public Radio's Daniel Schorr: "The problem is not rogue states. The problem is stateless rogues."
To counter stateless rogues, you don't attack entire nation states. Instead, you seek the good will, support and cooperation of nation states by engaging them diplomatically. Barack Obama understands this, and the world apparently is rejoicing in what promises to be a most constructive change in our approach to foreign policy.
It is hard enough to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons. An even greater danger is the existence of these weapons in the hands of those who have no allegiance to any nation. Nobody is suggesting we dismantle our military establishment. But the above reasoning suggests that more tank battalions, heavy bombing squadrons and nuclear subs are not what we need. We do need a non-politicized intelligence agency, and we need the cooperation of other nations, including those with whom we don't necessarily agree on other issues.
The U.S. constitutes about 4 percent of the world's 6.5 billion people. To deal with the threat to our national security, the most efficient, most effective strategy is to gain the support and cooperation of the other 96 percent. This includes living up to our American ideals, not only because it's right and it's who we are, but to deprive the terrorists of a recruiting ground. Unfortunately, the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo have enriched the recruiting ground for Al Qaeda. We need to turn this around and not repeat this grave error.
Skeptics point to cultural differences between the Western World and the Middle East, and to differences in religious practices. Sure there are differences, which mean we don't need to impose western style democracies on nations that don't want it. But there are many similarities. I recall my first visit to a shopping mall near Muscat, capital of Oman. But for the Arabic script alongside the English, and some folks in native garb, it could have been a shopping mall in Madison or Chicago. And there were women dressed in their native garb, obviously from the countryside, eating hamburgers in McDonalds while talking on their cell phones. The point is that people the world over want economic opportunity and a better life, particularly the young people who will demand it from within their own countries.
A more enlightened and effective foreign policy will save American lives and provide more physical security. A more pragmatic and effective foreign policy will free economic resources so we can provide health care, rebuild our physical infrastructure, provide employment, and thereby more economic security at home. In other words, our ultimate security, both physical and economic, depends in large measure on the esteem in which we are held by the rest of the world.
That's why it matters what the rest of the world thinks of us. And that's why it matters that we have a president-elect who understands this.
- John Waelti is a resident of Monroe. This column is based on his experience for two years as a Visiting Professor, University of Nairobi, Kenya; and four years as Head of the Agricultural Economics Department, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman. He can be reached at jjwaelti@charter.net.
For two years during the mid-eighties, I was visiting professor at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. As we already have seen, people from all over the world, and especially from Africa and Kenya, are elated that Americans would elect a president with African roots. Surely, world opinion of America is enhanced.
So why does it matter? Why should we care what the world thinks of America? And how does this affect everyday Americans? Read on.
My second major international experience was in the Middle East. I arrived in the Sultanate of Oman to head the agricultural economics department of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in August 2001- just prior to 9/11. There is no doubt, America at that time held the moral high ground and had the sympathy and respect of the world. SQU is staffed by an international faculty, and the students all are from Oman. Countless people personally expressed their regrets to me that such a debacle could occur. Editorials of the Middle Eastern newspapers were totally with us.
During the following years, especially after the invasion of Iraq, world opinion of America declined precipitously. However, the same polls that showed a decline in opinion of America showed the same respondents nevertheless still held Americans as individuals in high regard. I never experienced negativity toward me personally, and other Americans tell me the same thing - that Americans abroad generally are liked by others, that is, as long as we give them a chance.
By now, it already is clear that the world at large - Asia, Africa, Europe included - is elated with the election of Barack Obama. The good will toward our president-elect surely will rub off on our entire nation.
It matters because there still is an existing real threat to America by a relatively few extremists. How we perceive this threat, and how we deal with it, has profound implications for our national security, our economic security, and our everyday lives.
Let's follow the chain of reasoning, beginning with the perception of this threat. I like to quote National Public Radio's Daniel Schorr: "The problem is not rogue states. The problem is stateless rogues."
To counter stateless rogues, you don't attack entire nation states. Instead, you seek the good will, support and cooperation of nation states by engaging them diplomatically. Barack Obama understands this, and the world apparently is rejoicing in what promises to be a most constructive change in our approach to foreign policy.
It is hard enough to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons. An even greater danger is the existence of these weapons in the hands of those who have no allegiance to any nation. Nobody is suggesting we dismantle our military establishment. But the above reasoning suggests that more tank battalions, heavy bombing squadrons and nuclear subs are not what we need. We do need a non-politicized intelligence agency, and we need the cooperation of other nations, including those with whom we don't necessarily agree on other issues.
The U.S. constitutes about 4 percent of the world's 6.5 billion people. To deal with the threat to our national security, the most efficient, most effective strategy is to gain the support and cooperation of the other 96 percent. This includes living up to our American ideals, not only because it's right and it's who we are, but to deprive the terrorists of a recruiting ground. Unfortunately, the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo have enriched the recruiting ground for Al Qaeda. We need to turn this around and not repeat this grave error.
Skeptics point to cultural differences between the Western World and the Middle East, and to differences in religious practices. Sure there are differences, which mean we don't need to impose western style democracies on nations that don't want it. But there are many similarities. I recall my first visit to a shopping mall near Muscat, capital of Oman. But for the Arabic script alongside the English, and some folks in native garb, it could have been a shopping mall in Madison or Chicago. And there were women dressed in their native garb, obviously from the countryside, eating hamburgers in McDonalds while talking on their cell phones. The point is that people the world over want economic opportunity and a better life, particularly the young people who will demand it from within their own countries.
A more enlightened and effective foreign policy will save American lives and provide more physical security. A more pragmatic and effective foreign policy will free economic resources so we can provide health care, rebuild our physical infrastructure, provide employment, and thereby more economic security at home. In other words, our ultimate security, both physical and economic, depends in large measure on the esteem in which we are held by the rest of the world.
That's why it matters what the rest of the world thinks of us. And that's why it matters that we have a president-elect who understands this.
- John Waelti is a resident of Monroe. This column is based on his experience for two years as a Visiting Professor, University of Nairobi, Kenya; and four years as Head of the Agricultural Economics Department, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman. He can be reached at jjwaelti@charter.net.
