The new President of America …

Some newscasters on international television channels were quick to point out that they would not be ‘calling’ the election until voting across the country had closed as it could deter voters in states where the polls close last, given that Americans across seven time zones are choosing their forty fourth president.

Given the intense competition among the various media entities, that would be a tough call indeed. Results on CNN.com at the time of writing show Senator Obama comfortably leading Senator McCain 174 to 69 electoral votes.

The 2008 election is keenly watched around the world for several reasons. Chief among them is a loss of credibility in American foreign policy during the current administration.

The invasion of Iraq began on the basis that there were weapons of mass destruction. None were found but the occupation and the suffering of the Iraqi people continues. The frosty relations that America has with Iran and North Korea have at various times given rise to the possibility of war. In Afghanistan, a half-hearted war continues against the Taliban and has recently angered the new administration in long time American-ally Pakistan for unauthorized attacks within the country and the killing of civilians. Inconsistency and double standards have been a common thread in American policy. Diplomacy appears to have been stifled by the American political dream of maintaining superpower status; to be the best economic resource, police, the judge and jury for the entire world. A challenge whether it be from China or India which have much larger populations is frowned upon.

Even though the relationship between man and his environment is better understood today, America failed to give leadership to the world by ratifying the Kyoto Protocols.

More recently, the financial crisis which began in the USA has gripped the entire world creating a very vulnerable situation for people everywhere. It was to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that less developed countries made a pilgrimage with a begging bowl. Today the IMF is in such dire straits that the Prime Minister of Great Britain followed a senior US official this week to countries in the Middle East seeking funds for the IMF which has already bailed out some countries affected by the financial crisis.

The new President of the United States of America would have to urgently and concurrently address all these issues even as he juggles with domestic considerations which have propelled him to the Oval Office.

He will have to engage in a reordering of American foreign policy with an emphasis on diplomacy. He will have to give leadership to the setting up of a new institution to regulate global financial markets and relationships, perhaps on the lines of the International Telecommunication Union. Under his leadership, America will have to show its commitment to the protection of the global environment by throwing its weight behind international initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocols.

Right now, the CNN electoral map shows Barack Obama leading 207 to 135. May the better man win.