It's tough being Emperor of the World

I find myself defending Barack Obama, even though I think he's in over his head and on the way to embarrassment or worse in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Israel-Palestine.
 
The easiest part of the job is ignoring those who think him a Muslim anti-Semite, or a man whose elevation to the presidency depends on a forged birth certificate. They are close cousins of the people convinced Lee Harvey Oswald did not kill John F. Kennedy, and descendants of those sure that Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the Rothschilds, or the Catholic Church engineered the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
 
The weightier discussions are with those who contend that Obama is naive, and wonder about his actions in countries neither he nor his advisers appear to understand.
 
I agree with the naive part, and try to explain why, regardless, here is another American president heading for trouble: It comes with the job.

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Remember Thomas Hobbs

Current events justify a few words about domestic and international politics.
 
Politics is tough in a democracy with a complex society. Witness the squabbles in the United States over health care that have been prominent at various times since the 1940s, and which are currently testing the capacity of the Obama administration.
 
Compared to international politics, domestic politics are a cakewalk.
 
A line of Thomas Hobbes' is appropriate for international politics: life is nasty, brutish, and short

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I am not anti-America, but...

Mahmoud Abbas has a new demand of the United States: to order the immediate removal of the security barrier being built between Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Israel. According to Abbas, the barrier is standing in the way of the peace process. On account of an end to the violence, he claims, it is unnecessary.
 
That is like a cancer patient telling his physician that he can stop chemotherapy because he is having a good day.
 
It is not possible at this time to predict whether Israel's security barrier will have a life that is shorter or longer than the Berlin Wall, the Great Wall of China, or the various barriers that the United States is building between itself and Mexico.

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US public opinion turning against Israel

Several friends have cautioned me that public opinion in America is turning against Israel, and public opinion in Europe is more intense in its opposition.
 
The reasons cited are the ugly pictures coming out of Gaza, as well as the perception that President Obama is upping the pressure against Israeli stubbornness with respect to concessions for the Palestinians.
 
If you actually read my letters, you should have noticed that I judged Obama's speech to be at least as harsh toward the Arabs as toward Israel. Nonetheless, public opinion polls show a strong tendency among Israelis to perceive animosity. Perhaps it is Jewish nerves, overly suspicious about an escalation of threat. It is incorrect to conclude that George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice never criticized Israel. I recall them saying what Obama said about the need to stop settlement growth.

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Israel more successful than US in security matters

In the context of rising tensions between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government about Jewish settlements in the West Bank, it is appropriate to look at some details. They may not convince Obama enthusiasts to question whether the president is on the right track. They will not overturn the view held by many that the settlements represent all that is short-sighted and wrong-headed about the Israeli regime. Facts are only one of the things considered by partisans. Nonetheless, they are worth something.
 
They indicate that Israel has been more successful than the United States in dealing with its security, at less cost to the people who consider themselves enemies of Israel.

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Israel's troubled legislative proposals

Israel is going through a season of proclamations and legislative proposals that remind me of American campaigns about prayer in schools, abortions, and gay marriage.
 
The equivalents here are a proposals to outlaw the mourning of Israel's existence (Nakba) by the country's Arab population, jail sentences for those who deny the Jewish character of the country, and rabbinical demands that soldiers refuse orders to remove settlements.
 
What links these Israeli and American issues is their capacity to inflame marginal issues with religious fanaticism.

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The game continues

The United States is the most powerful nation in the world. It may be the most powerful in the history of the world, but analyses of power relative to others at their times might find ancient Greece and Rome, and not so ancient Nazi Germany in comparable or stronger positions. Germany's power did not last long, but it was awesome while it was all over Europe, close to Moscow and Cairo.
 
Those who doubt that the United States can act unilaterally, or nearly so, should take a look at what it has done to Iraq, and what its unguided missiles have done to civilians in Afghanistan. Americans responsible for those actions are not concerned to travel outside their country, or being seized by border officials acting under the decisions of judges from Spain, the United Kingdom, or the Hague.

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America should learn from Israel

The drama of Barack Obama's personality and his campaign of 'Change' have come under assault on several fronts. Reality is at least as tough as rhetoric. The skills that get a politician to office may not be those that enhance government. On the other hand, they might be. The man is smart, and he has good advisers. The test is ongoing. The jury will not decide for a while.

Americans elected Obama, but he must lead the world. On his plate are not only existing commitments to bad wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the pirates of Somalia as well as the lingering issue of conventional troublemaking and nuclear weapons in Iran. Closer to home, the stock market has shown some promise that it may be coming back from its bottom, but there are other signs that the economic crisis has a way to go.

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Israel knows how to say no

The new administration in Washington is down on the floor wrestling with economic problems that are world class and historic in their severity.

Along with that, the campaign theme of Change, some of the new people in Washington and a host of wannabes have sought to refresh some old slogans about the Middle East. They may assert their support for Israel and concern for its future, but they talk about tough love and pressuring Israel to accommodate what they see as essential facts.

Obama's upcoming challenges

If I may be so bold as to issue some advice to President-Elect Barack Obama, it is to be cautious in the extreme about two issues on his agenda: Afghanistan and Israel-Palestine.
 
His campaign rhetoric included proclamations that Afghanistan is "the right war" "It's time to heed the call...for more troops...and "I'd send at least two or three additional combat brigades to Afghanistan."
 
Since then, Obama has been cautioned by a variety of experts. There are no clear signals as to his intentions as president.

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