Obama’s Victory
Congratulations from around the world are due to Senator Barack Obama, whose triumph as the 44th president and the first African-American president of the United States is shared by many countries, communities and individuals.
Obama’s victory is one that many internationalists had hoped for, both for his leadership qualities the world needs the United States to have, and the principled values he is expected to uphold.
That is still a long road to travel, and he will need consistent encouragement to get there.
Hopes remain high that an Obama victory would give a needed fillip to global markets either in crisis or languishing in the doldrums. Asian stock markets already rose yesterday upon news of Obama’s triumph.
No less important is how a President Obama will be expected to tamp down US arrogance and aggression abroad. After eight long years of a reckless, risky and warlike Bush presidency, the more consultative style that Obama embodies will be a welcome relief.
Yet, advisedly, there is a need for cautious realism and to beware unmerited euphoria, not least because Democratic administrations have on record engaged in more wars than Republican ones. President Obama, for all his strengths and virtues, will still be a US president first and a global statesman second.
Nonetheless, what we have seen of him, from his campaigning style to his public persona, has been impressive and commendable. He is a 21st century leader in form and function, representing the better side of “only in America”.
For Americans in particular, Obama has successfully realised the celebrated dream of slain civil rights leader Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr. King had longed for a time when his country would see a man “judged not by the colour of his skin, but by the content of his character”. Americans made that crucial, historic judgment on Tuesday.
Despite its faults and limitations – and there should be no denying them – the United States remains a land of hope and opportunity that can reward the deserving.
Perhaps that is also what helps make the United States so strong, powerful and influential. Its people can make the changes the country needs, such as by making the best available person the nation’s chief executive, regardless of race or belief.
By implication, any country that so aspires can similarly achieve greatness. That is a transition which countries mired in the Third World can, and should, make to the First World.
Obama’s victory is one that many internationalists had hoped for, both for his leadership qualities the world needs the United States to have, and the principled values he is expected to uphold.
That is still a long road to travel, and he will need consistent encouragement to get there.
Hopes remain high that an Obama victory would give a needed fillip to global markets either in crisis or languishing in the doldrums. Asian stock markets already rose yesterday upon news of Obama’s triumph.
No less important is how a President Obama will be expected to tamp down US arrogance and aggression abroad. After eight long years of a reckless, risky and warlike Bush presidency, the more consultative style that Obama embodies will be a welcome relief.
Yet, advisedly, there is a need for cautious realism and to beware unmerited euphoria, not least because Democratic administrations have on record engaged in more wars than Republican ones. President Obama, for all his strengths and virtues, will still be a US president first and a global statesman second.
Nonetheless, what we have seen of him, from his campaigning style to his public persona, has been impressive and commendable. He is a 21st century leader in form and function, representing the better side of “only in America”.
For Americans in particular, Obama has successfully realised the celebrated dream of slain civil rights leader Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr. King had longed for a time when his country would see a man “judged not by the colour of his skin, but by the content of his character”. Americans made that crucial, historic judgment on Tuesday.
Despite its faults and limitations – and there should be no denying them – the United States remains a land of hope and opportunity that can reward the deserving.
Perhaps that is also what helps make the United States so strong, powerful and influential. Its people can make the changes the country needs, such as by making the best available person the nation’s chief executive, regardless of race or belief.
By implication, any country that so aspires can similarly achieve greatness. That is a transition which countries mired in the Third World can, and should, make to the First World.
MOHD ADHA MOHD ZAIN (ADHA ZAIN)
Blogger Informasi
