Trouble at home and abroad

“People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power”.

-- Bill Clinton

That was the best one-liner I picked up today - and not surprisingly from the speech of Bill Clinton at the Democratic Convention, in which he professed his support for Barack Obama and called on the 12 million Hillary primary voters to do the same. Clinton stated ‘that our nation is in trouble on two fronts: The American dream is under siege at home (referring to the economic crises and the energy dependency on imported oil), and America's leadership in the world has been weakened.

US foreign policy

The future of US foreign and development policy, was the central topic in the panel discussions I attended today in a packed hall with 1500 participants. Lead American foreign policy makers such as Madeleine Albright, Richard Haas, Richard Holbrooke, Jessica Mathews and Vin Weber discussed the future of international cooperation. A number of interesting statistics were presented:

The greatest concerns of the US electorate are today:
• Economy and jobs 45%
• Energy 41%
• Health care 30%
• Iraq 30%
• Terrorism 17%
(figures presented by Geoff Garin of Hart Research)

Among Republicans the percentage of voters who want the US more actively involved in the world has remained stable over the past year, whereas the percentage for Democratic voters has decreased 18%, indicating a trend towards isolationism. At the same time, 8 out of 10 Americans believe that America is less respected in the world today and find this a major problem. Commenting on these statistics, the panelist agreed that there is a new consensus on international relations emerging that recognizes that working with other countries around the world is essential. That relations need to be maintained through diplomacy while the use of military force is only an option of last resort.

Restoring credibility

The panel agreed that the international system is broken and needs fixing. They differed on whether a Barack Administration will be able to lead or that it first needs to restore credibility by undoing the restriction of civil liberties, its position on torture, and closing Guantanomo Bay. Yet, the panel recognized that the number of foreign policy challenges have never been bigger and more complex: Georgia and the Russian expansion, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and climate change, a subject that received much attention. It is expected to take at least six months after the inauguration of the new president in January 2009 before the new appointments of the Administration will be confirmed. Hence, it will take considerable time before a new Administration will have a comprehensive foreign policy prepared in response to the many challenges.

What will the response of the European Union be during this transition? Willl it engage the new US administration pro-actively in an effort to try to harmonize transatlantic positions and use the opening for strengthening multilateral cooperation? Europe did not feature in the debate today. Instead, the emphasis was on the Asian continent's fast economic development and the shifts this will bring to international relations.

Democracy promotion

The importance of democracy promotion in foreign policy was strongly endorsed by the panelist in approaches that are very similar to the lessons learned in this field and applied by NIMD and other European democracy support organizations. No imposition. Democracy has to grow from within to be sustainable. In reflecting on the interesting debate, it is my impression that the tone and content of the debate among this group of key American foreign policy makers not much differs from current foreign policy debates with the EU. It offers in my view new opportunities to address common transatlantic (and beyond) concerns such as fixing the multilateral system.

Joe's speech

Back at the Convention Hall tonight the delegates were energized for the third night in a row by some impressive speeches, notably the one of Bill Clinton and the acceptance speech of Joe Biden as Vice Presidential candidate. The speeches clearly laid out the political platform on which the Obama - Biden ticket will fight the presidential election, while the Biden speech contained plenty of personal drama - with lots of tears among the delegates - to allow the American viewers the chance to identify themselves with the speaker.

The delegates and other visitors loved the performances, which created an electrifying atmosphere at the Convention floor that climaxed when Barack Obama paid a surprise visit to the Convention at the end of the evening to thank the Clintons for their speeches and their enormous support for his candidacy.

So far, the Convention has been one big show of unity towards the outside world, the party closing ranks to fight the presidential election together. The biggest show, however, is still to come. Tomorrow, for the final night of the Convention at which Barack Obama shall deliver his acceptance speech, the venue shall change to a stadium in Denver that can accommodate 75.000 people. This has rarely happened before at Conventions but was needed because of the overwhelming interest amongst party volunteers to come and listen to his speech.