It's Gotta Be Barack

I’ll never forget getting berated by a local man in an Istanbul hostel a couple of years ago for the war in Iraq. The man, who wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise, didn’t care that I was personally against the war. Simply because I was an American, his anger made it impossible for him to see that I understood his perspective.

Far from an isolated incident, the man’s anger was representative of a widespread anti-American sentiment in every region of the world has begun to severely limit the Untied States’ ability to be a global leader.

But in Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy, there is hope for the American image. The foreign policy U-turn he proposes is already getting notice abroad. For example, a friend of mine – a middle-class Syrian employee of the Italian consulate in Damascus, whom I had known for her fierce opposition to American policy – recently told me she supported Obama’s candidacy.

A quick comparison of candidates’ official foreign policy platforms shows why Obama is getting celebrated in some of the places where America has been deeply unpopular in the last several years.

Republican John McCain’s foreign policy proposals amount to more troops and more guns for Iraq, and increased spending on military and defense in general.

But tellingly, in the 1,400-word Iraq policy proposal on the McCain campaign’s website, there is not a single mention of the word “diplomacy”.

That McCain has essentially no diplomatic proposals in his foreign policy platform reflects something deeper: he has no broader vision for how America will engage and lead the world. McCain and the Republicans appear vastly unaware of just how far the United States’ profile has fallen internationally.

The Democrats acknowledge it more. One of Hillary Clinton’s “issues,” according to her campaign website, is “Restoring America’s Standing in the World.” Her plan is laudable in that it advocates “engaging our enemies.” Clinton has repeatedly pointed out that, during the Cold

War, the United States never stopped talking to the Soviet Union, even as the communist superpower threatened us with annihilation.

That’s a good starting point, but it isn’t particularly profound. In fact, like her Iraq proposal, her image-improvement plan is rather short on details.

That’s where Obama comes in. He has vowed to “launch the most aggressive diplomatic effort in recent American history.” This effort will specifically include talking to Iran and Syria, vastly boosting aid to Iraqi refugees, and working with the United Nations. The plan, detailed in a lengthy proposal on the campaign’s website, is multidimensional, not limiting itself to pressing security concerns. On the humanitarian side, it has detailed recommendations for ending the violence in Darfur –through U.N. mechanisms – and ending the conflict in Congo.

More than simply statements of concern, Obama has specifics in each of his suggestions – at least $2 billion for Iraqi refugees, for example.

He smartly balances the possible and the necessary with the ideal, while decrying the self-destructive arrogance of the current administration’s foreign policy.

For once, that’s something that Americans and the rest of the world can agree on. If we don’t take heed, we will have to watch our role as world leader continue to fade.