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Analysis: President Obama and the World

Council on Foreign Relations

Updated: January 20, 2009
Author: Robert McMahon

In the view of many analysts, the United States enters 2009 as a power in decline. Its freewheeling financial system, once the envy of the world, is blamed for sparking a global economic crisis rivaled only by the Great Depression. Emerging economies less exposed to the crisis and blessed with other advantages (low labor costs, natural resources) stand to gain in financial power and political influence, writes Roger C. Altman in Foreign Affairs. Yale historian Paul Kennedy adds that heavy dependence on foreign investors like China reflects a scale of U.S. indebtedness comparable to imperial Spain or France prior to their decline from global preeminence (WSJ). Additionally, the Bush administration's war with Iraq damaged the credibility of the United States, which had insisted on the danger posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, then emphasized Iraq's value as a budding democracy when the threat was found not to exist. The U.S. government's own National Intelligence Council says global U.S. dominance "will erode at an accelerating pace" over the next sixteen years.

Into this troubling mix strides Barack Obama, whose historic presidential campaign promised change on the heels of the unpopular Bush presidency. In his inaugural address, Obama chided Americans for their "collective failure to make hard choices" and reaffirmed pledges to reform U.S. policies on energy, education, and health care. To the watching world, Obama portrayed the United States as a friend and good neighbor. He confirmed his intention to focus on winding down the war in Iraq and ramping up a commitment to pacifying Afghanistan, adding: "With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet."

Obama's first order of business is shepherding through a giant stimulus for the U.S. economy.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.