Nice Guys Finish Nowhere

The world is catching on. They no longer see Obama as a transformational figure, but instead as a weak leader:

When he entered office, US President Barack Obama promised to inject US foreign policy with a new tone of respect and diplomacy. His recent trip to Asia, however, showed that it's not working. A shift to Bush-style bluntness may be coming.

There were only a few hours left before Air Force One was scheduled to depart for the flight home. US President Barack Obama trip through Asia had already seen him travel 24,000 kilometers, sit through a dozen state banquets, climb the Great Wall of China and shake hands with Korean children. It was high time to take stock of the trip.


Barack Obama looked tired on Thursday, as he stood in the Blue House in Seoul, the official residence of the South Korean president. He also seemed irritable and even slightly forlorn. The CNN cameras had already been set up. But then Obama decided not to play along, and not to answer the question he had already been asked several times on his trip: what did he plan to take home with him? Instead, he simply said "thank you, guys," and disappeared. David Axelrod, senior advisor to the president, fielded the journalists' questions in the hallway of the Blue House instead, telling them that the public's expectations had been "too high."

The mood in Obama's foreign policy team is tense following an extended Asia trip that produced no palpable results. The "first Pacific president," as Obama called himself, came as a friend and returned as a stranger. The Asians smiled but made no concessions.

Lost Some Stature

Upon taking office, Obama said that he wanted to listen to the world, promising respect instead of arrogance. But Obama's currency isn't as strong as he had believed. Everyone wants respect, but hardly anyone is willing to pay for it. Interests, not emotions, dominate the world of realpolitik. The Asia trip revealed the limits of Washington's new foreign policy: Although Obama did not lose face in China and Japan, he did appear to have lost some of his initial stature.

This is what happens when you try and run away from the concept of American exceptionalism as promoted by George W. Bush and to a lesser extent Bill Clinton. Trying to make America "just another nation among nations" turns the president into "just another weak leader among weak leaders". The world isn't served well by turning a superpower into a patsy.

Whether they want to admit it or not, most nations want a strong America because they know this country is a force for good and a balancing power to states like China and Russia. Remove the USA from that role and the world becomes a much more dangerous place for everyone.

Bush may have had a swagger that hit some the wrong way, but he never let you doubt that he was serious about America's role in the world and that he would do what it took to protect it. Obama's apology tours simply project weakness and create a power void that will be filled by someone, and it won't be someone with our interests in mind.