Last July, President Obama – then candidate Obama – delivered a famous
speech to Berliners that has come to be called the “Citizen of the
World” speech.
Though it was supposedly about the importance of coming together – of embracing our “common humanity” to face the threats of the 21st century – the speech generated questions about Obama’s patriotism. “The size of our forces,” he said of the American military, “was no match for the much larger Soviet Army. And yet retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that stood in the way was Berlin.”
That was the way Obama talked about the Cold War. Predictably, this and other such statements were generally embraced by the Europeans, who generally eat up anything that makes America look less than perfect and makes them look like our moral superiors.
Despite what Obama said, however, we were the ones leading the fight for right. It was American might, not German, and certainly not little old Berlin, which bested the “evil empire.”
Much of Europe is still in the throngs of a love affair with Obama. His policies on energy and prisoners are appealing to them, as is his tendency to criticize America when he is speaking overseas. Nevertheless, European leaders (who are not all in sync with their citizens) are also trying to exploit our current economic weakness for political sake.
The economic crisis, as it were, has opened up new hopes for many countries that were supposedly “shut out” by Bush (not Bush personally, but by his attitudes) and are eager to recapture the glory of their pre-America-as-superpower days. Though it has severe problems of its own, Europe now has the opportunity to make significant strides forward while we are struggling to regain our footing.
President Obama has only made things worse by modeling his economic plan on European-inspired ideas, most of which are socialist. Not only does this give the impression that European ways are better, but of course, those are also the wrong ideas; American capitalism has produced the greatest economy the world has ever known.
But Obama does not see America as a “shining city on a hill,” as Ronald Reagan did. One line from his Berlin speech reveals a lot about how he does see us: “In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common.”
That may be correct, maybe not (I think that America’s unpopularity tends to be greatly exaggerated). Either way, it does not help to keep harping on it, as Obama has just done in his first presidential trip to Europe. At a town hall meeting on Friday, he bluntly noted, “there have been times where America’s shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive toward Europe.”
It is one thing for Europe to accuse us of being “dismissive,” but when our own president does it, it is downright embarrassing ““ unpresidential, it would seem. If Obama learns anything from this crisis, he should learn that making people feel inadequate doesn’t solve anything.
If he wants to succeed, it would be best to try to boost morale by reminding us that we are still the greatest nation on Earth, and that our best times are ahead of us.
To top it all off, Obama is beginning to lose support from Europe’s leadership, although the European population is still largely besotted with him. Last week, the Czech Prime Minister and current president of the European Union called our spending plan a “road to hell,” a sentiment the French and Germans expressed as well. Obama’s roadmap for Afghanistan was also rebuffed at the recent G20 meeting of major world powers.
Nevertheless, Obama is still calling for a “unified” approach to solving the financial crisis. As he continues to do so and emulates the very people who are mocking him behind his back, his dignity and America’s dignity (forget our image) will be further and further depressed. At the same time, the American people will begin to grow weary of being treated like secondhand citizens. When we’re already suffering from low self-esteem, we don’t want to hear that our ingenuity and our ideas are becoming obsolete.
In order to extricate ourselves from our present downward spiral, we have to do exactly what Obama has been telling us not to do: We have to focus on our inner strengths and capitalize on them.
If we are ever to return to our halcyon days, we cannot rely on the ideas of other nations who may not have our best interests at heart. Hence, while Europe will play along with Obama’s calls for “unity” for a time, they will only do so as long as such a policy is still profitable for them. They will not give him free reign simply because he speaks of a “common destiny” and flatters them with mealy-mouthed platitudes.
E-mail Pherson at apherson@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.