The FINANCIAL — Abigael Evans is a four-year old red haired, pinkish and highly sensitive kid from Colarado. She was travelling in a car, seated behind her mother at the steering wheel, and enjoying the ride just a few days ago when disaster struck. The National Public Radio station began the usual coverage of the US Presidential Election.
Abigel burst into tears and sobbed uncontrollably. Her mother pulled the car into a public car park and asked Abigel what was wrong. The four-year old began to sob and cry, with her mouth pouted angrily and with tears rolling down her cheeks. Choking with emotion, Abigael moaned “ am tired of Bronco Bamma and Mitt Romney”.
The mother obviously videoed the child’s outrage and within hours it hit the YouTube and major TV channels including mainstream channels such as CNN. Hearing of the kid’s mental trauma, the National Public Radio station responsible issued an apology: "On behalf of NPR and all other news outlets, we apologize to Abigael and all the many others who probably feel like her. We must confess, the campaign's gone on long enough for us, too. Let's just keep telling ourselves: "Only a few more days, only a few more days, only a few more days,"
Perhaps, only in a country such as the United States, a Public Broadcasting company or any channel for that matter will take a child’s plea on a major global event seriously. The Broadcasting company’s response to Abigael’s sorrow is tantamount to saying that this noisy campaign where everything from Mitt Romney’s breakfast cereals to Bronco Bamma’s spirituality are viewed as having an impact on the ability to govern, may have indeed over-shadowed some of the real issues which need to be addressed.
While those who have the power to elect the next President grapple with national issues of jobs and money, of religion and morals, those outside the United States whose lives are often affected by key American policies and initiatives can only wait and hope that the next President of the world’s biggest economy can build bridges and bring hope. A Hong-Kong-based AFP-Ipsos Poll recently found that 86 per cent of Japanese would like to have Barack Obama continue in power while 63 per cent Chinese would like to have the same incumbent President. Japan and China being too rather large economies, this does send a signal on what the thinking could be outside Washington.
Mitt Romney’s anti-China statements related to currency manipulation, his forthright stance on beefing up the American military corridor in the Pacific, and his open and defiant stance where Russia is pitted as Enemy No.1 will not certainly sit well with the Asians who may view him as far too right of the centre. And given the contortions in the Middle East and the continuing destruction, the suffering and the destabilization of economies and societies, Asians would rather have a more positive and engaging American foreign policy which gives them a level of comfort and a certain insurance against man-made disasters.
Barrack Obama did win a Nobel Prize for Peace. He admitted he did not deserve it and in fact he did not know why he was ever awarded a Nobel Prize. Probably the Prize was given to exhort him to seek and obtain global peace, across continents, using the staging power America has. Although his tenure in the Oval Office did not bring about any strategic or transformational change in the way one hoped as he was sworn in, he did manage to keep to a broader agenda of disengagement from Iraq, Afghanistan while keeping the pressure on hunting down the terrorists across as number of countries. He also started his term as President with an American economy in dire straits, the global economy in tatters and a multitude of problems following him from nations which were American allies and sworn enemies. Throughout his term, coming to an end with the worst hurricane in American history, he could not have had an easy ride.
Mitt Romney sees the world very much as a full-blooded American super-hero, not willing to take a chance on anything which will hurt American interests, at home or outside. It is his second shot at the Presidency. He was governor of a blue-ribbon state and understands the path to wealth creation as he has done for himself and his family. He envisions America as a nation which must continue to be the superman at all costs, with much more fire power. I believe that this is where Obama and Romney are adrift, not necessarily in the billions of dollars to be spent to maintain that power, but in the overall philosophy of engagement with other nations, especially those which are now showing much economic and political muscle, and are shifting the balance of power.
I was a student of Joseph Nye and Michael Dukakis at Harvard where I took a keen interest in American Foreign Policy. Joseph Nye is a brilliant scholar with an in-depth understanding of leadership, power and power-drivers. He had always argued that coercive power that subjects others to any form of fear or indignity would be counter-productive in the long term. I am still his disciple and I believe in his philosophy of engagement that reduces tensions, builds common grounds, builds bridges and constantly provides positive signals for understanding and cooperation.
America, being a super power, has a great responsibility for actively setting a global agenda for peace which will last beyond the lifetime of any presidency. American voters also need to understand that, apart from pursuing their own limited gains at home, they need to show other nations that they are genuinely and devoutly conscious of freedom, democracy and economic prosperity elsewhere on earth. This cannot be achieved by extolling the virtues of freedom, democracy and economic prosperity, but in developing a long road map and milestones for achieving them, in every single nation.
The world has become somewhat de-sensitized to human suffering only because the scale at which it happens both through wars, rebellions, suppressions and of course the rage of nature from Fukushima to New York. One sees, with vivid pictures on TV, the bombings, the bloodshed, destroyed homes and streets, death and torment of people fleeing for their lives with babes in arms. The Syrian catastrophe is almost 19 months old. The intensity of fighting by the rebels, the bombings by the government forces still go unabated. There does not seem to be an end in sight while the children lose their limbs, mothers bury their sons and daughters. Millions are caught in the cross-fire.
America needs a more stubborn, unwavering and engaging foreign policy that does not double-deal with dictators and corrupt governments. It’s foreign policy signals must be undiluted, direct and convincing to those who may step out of line. Waging of wars must be the last resort against unjust aggression by a tyrant or a nation. There is too much at stake for people everywhere.
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