NEW YORK - When Barack Hussein Obama (does he have another hidden middle name, Muhammad, buried somewhere?) was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States last week, his accession to the presidency was not only a political milestone but also the harbinger of a new era in US foreign policy.
In a country where White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) were once considered an ethnic group perpetually part of the ruling class, the Obama presidency is a colourful break from the past. The first African-American US president walked into a White House which was partly built by slaves imported from the African continent many moons ago.
In his inaugural address, the only pointed reference he made to his colour was when he described himself as "a man whose father (a Kenyan), less than 60 years ago, might not have been served at a local restaurant, can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath (as president of the United States)".
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| President Obama listens alongside Richard Holbrooke (L), newly named Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, as George Mitchell (R), newly named Special Envoy to the Middle East, speaks at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Thursday. AFP |
Although blacks were either barred or openly discriminated against in schools, restaurants and public places in the 1940s and 1950s, the white slave masters, including some Presidents, had no compunction in having black women as mistresses and concubines prompting the controversial black pastor Jeremiah Wright to remark last week: "Michelle Obama will be the first black woman to sleep in the White House -- legally."
A traditionally white First Family which has inhabited the White House for generations has changed colour -- and noticeably so. As the New York Times pointed out, Obama's expanded family is a mix of whites, blacks, Chinese, Canadian and Indonesian. Collectively, they speak a polyglot of at least 10 languages: English, Bhasa Indonesia, French, Cantonese, German, Hebrew, Creole, Swahili, Luo and Igbo. Perhaps the only languages missing were Hindi, Urdu, Sinhalese and Tamil.
If he sticks to his political manifesto as spelled out during his presidential campaign, Obama is expected to bring radical changes both in domestic and foreign policy. But some of his pledges, including a new surge of troops to an unwinnable Afghanistan and a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, are likely to trigger opposition.
Still, he started his first day in office at the White House with several executive orders. On the domestic front, he called for more transparency by reversing a policy of the Bush administration. Under the Freedom of Information Act, government agencies earlier denied certain official records and documents on grounds of jeopardizing the war on terror.
"Starting today," Obama said, "every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side of, not those who seek to withhold information, but those who seek to make it known." Additionally, the executive order repealed a previous order that permitted former US Presidents or their heirs to claim executive privilege in an attempt to keep government records secret.
Obama also ordered the closing down of Guantanamo Bay, the much-maligned detention facility for terror suspects, and banned the torturing of suspects, including a practice called water-boarding. The fate of the 245 detainees in Guantanamo Bay will be determined during the course of this year. They will be prosecuted, transferred or released. The practice of rendition -- whereby terror suspects were sent to third countries where they were tortured -- was also declared illegal.
On foreign policy, Obama not only appointed two new special envoys, one to the Middle East (George Mitchell) and another to Afghanistan/Pakistan (Richard Holbrooke), but also broke ranks with the former Bush administration by calling on Israel to open borders with Gaza. Mitchell, a tough negotiator who was involved in the Northern Ireland peace talks, is reputed for his even-handedness.
Meanwhile, spelling out Obama's policies in relation to the United Nations, the new US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice (no relative of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) said "the goal of our diplomacy at the United Nations must be to make it a more perfect forum to address the most pressing global challenges."
Her pledges, including a promise to work closely with the world body, was in marked contrast to the treatment meted out by the Bush administration which also owed billions of dollars in assessed contributions to the United Nations. She said Obama believes the US should pay its dues to the UN "in full and on time".
Speaking at the confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rice rightly pointed out that the task of US diplomacy must be to expand both the will and ability of the international community to respond effectively to the great challenges of the time.
"I know that the UN often frustrates Americans, and I am acutely aware of its shortcomings. But that is precisely why the United States must carry out sustained, concerted, and strategic multilateral diplomacy."
Many countries invest heavily in deliberations on what they view as the "world's stage." That in part explains why diplomacy at the UN can be slow, frustrating, complex, and imperfect. But that is also why effective American diplomacy at the United Nations remains so crucial, she added.
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