In the fourth part of his exchange with KA Dilday, Anthony Barnett argues that Obama sees the US as part of the world, not apart from it. Catch up with part 1, part 2, and part 3.
Dear Kay,
Senator Obama - and I SO hope by tomorrow morning it will be "President-elect" Obama - agrees with you. In an otherwise masterful opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, he writes,
I'll finally finish the fight against bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists who attacked us on 9/11, build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century, and restore our moral standing so that America remains the last, best hope of Earth.
Right up to the implication of your last clause I agree with you that
What Obama has demonstrated goes beyond the example that, no matter how far-fetched it seems, one can achieve one's dreams. He has shown people that there are many different ways to be black; that one can be comfortable and at home with people of all races and religions; that intellectualism is valuable to anyone of any race; and that America has done it again.
I'd say he has done more in that he has shown people of all colours, including white, that there are many different ways of being themselves, that their skin and background is not their fate. (And intellectualism is valuable - hurray! Have you tried to say that here in Britain?)
Here is the main point: America is special, yes. It is different. It is unique in its own way. But so too in their ways are all other countries. America is especially special because it is so powerful. But this is not inspiring - look what it has done with its power, from Vietnam to Iraq. Yes, Obama represents another America from Bush. The immense importance of his campaign is that it means one cannot say about George W Bush's Guantanamo-USA, "That's it folks - there is no other America".
However, while we should be immensely thankful this makes the United States (in its own different way) normal. I think this is wonderful, that American should become ordinary. Which is why I object to your phrase that if Obama wins America will have "done it again" that seems to imply that it will have proved itself to be better than the rest of us, leading the way, showing us what we should become.
Obama signs up to this idea in his WSJ piece. Frankly, it's appalling to think that America is "the last, best hope on earth". Excuse us, Barack, but there is quite a lot of hope everywhere else too, thank you. You are very inspiring precisely because you are not the last, best hope and nor is your country. We didn't dream up the Iraq war and Credit Default Swaps. (True, my government wished it had, but it is abnormal.)
I want to go on about this, because it is very dangerous for Americans, especially, as as we know very well, good Americans, to believe that they are the future for humankind. I'm sure that Bush felt - perhaps I should say "feels" as he is still going to be President for another three months - sorry for foreigners. He pities us. He expects us if we are good humans to want to be Americans, and if we don't he assumes we are likely to be bad anti-Americans. By contrast there is a very different and moving passage about al-Qaeda in the intro to Obama's first book where he reflects (I quote from memory, someone has walked off with my copy, a good omen) that its malevolent explosions have touched different parts of his life: Bali, Nairobi and New York.
This is the Obama I hope wins today and becomes a president. A man who sees himself and his country as part of the world, not apart from it. A country of hope but not our last or only hope.
And then? What are your fears and hopes for the next few months? Do you, like me, feel that the forces that could not prevent him from winning electorally will do everything they can to bring him down, and disillusion and disperse the potential movement that will have won it for him on the ground?
In the hope that you can share such concerns after a great, historic night.
Anthony
Anthony Barnett is the founder of openDemocracy.net
