Chrystia Freeland: Calmer Obama ushers new age

[babylonsister]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08eae510-25f8-11de-be57-00144feabdc0.html

Calmer Obama ushers new age

By Chrystia Freeland

Published: April 10 2009 18:55 | Last updated: April 10 2009 18:55


The global economic crisis has bankrupted century-old institutions, brought down once-mighty industrial brands and shattered a generation’s worth of assumptions about how financial capitalism ought to operate. Now it is time to declare another casualty of the crash – the imperial style of leadership.

Usually, times of trouble are also times when we are drawn to strong leaders. Think of Winston Churchill’s heroic rhetoric during the second world war, Margaret Thatcher’s Iron Lady pose during the Falklands crisis, and even Hitler’s jack-booted appeal to a Germany battered by the hyperinflation and humiliations of the inter-war era.

But Barack Obama has brought a different approach, first to the White House and now to the world. Throughout his first major overseas trip as US president he was a listener rather than a lecturer; a conciliator rather than a commander; an empathiser rather than an ideologue.

The contrast is sharpest with Mr Obama’s immediate predecessor, George W. Bush. The 43rd president declared that “either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists” and identified a new “axis of evil”. Compare that with 44, who this week urged students at an Istanbul town hall meeting to appreciate that “there’s always two sides to an issue”.

During the presidential campaign, a Republican advertisement derided Mr Obama as “The One” and mocked him for peddling a messiah-like persona. But as president, Mr Obama has sought to replace a messianic conception of the US and its role in the world with a more nuanced, more modest and more multilateral vision.

snip//

Proof of how far the pendulum has swung: this week Jack Welch, the former GE chief and avatar of the old imperial model, awarded Mr Obama an “A” for his leadership style (despite disagreeing with many of his policies). You can understand why. Our globalised, networked, multi-polar world, with its lack of a clear, cold war-esque ideological divide, has grown too complicated to be run with a command-and-control approach. Forget hope – Mr Obama’s truly audacious political decision has been to embrace this complexity. The even more remarkable thing is that, so far, Americans approve.

[Jennicut]

1. He makes me feel calm. I have never seen the Prez blow up at anyone.

Calm, cool, collected.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

2. Nice post. I like Crystia. She seems pretty sensible.

My jaw dropped when I saw Welch this morning praising Obama's leadership. It was a nice way to start the day. ;-)

[babylonsister]

3. I like her, too. She seems very level-headed and not prone to

hysterics like so many talking heads.

[Cha]

4. This shows how idiotic the liars were who spammed

the Obama "messiah" theme..

"During the presidential campaign, a Republican advertisement derided Mr Obama as “The One” and mocked him for peddling a messiah-like persona. But as president, Mr Obama has sought to replace a messianic conception of the US and its role in the world with a more nuanced, more modest and more multilateral vision."

Shock about mr welch!

[AtomicKitten]

5. Steady and calm projects confidence.

K&R