Opinion | Editorials
Obama must be clearer about his policies
One of the biggest challenges he will face if he becomes president is the Middle East.
- Gulf News
- Published: 23:41 July 25, 2008
These are surreal times. Western Europe is in the grip of Obama-mania with huge crowds turning up in Berlin to hear what Senator Barack Obama has to say. Not since the Camelot days of JFK has an American politician evoked such a strong sense of optimism. The difference is that Obama is not president but a candidate but this matters little to his legions of supporters in Europe who assume that come next January it will be Obama who takes the oath of office. There is less enthusiasm in the Middle East where Obama's rhetoric is given closer scrutiny. Certainly on his trip to Israel and the Occupied Territories there was little to encourage hope that an Obama presidency would herald a genuine breakthrough. Even as Obama spoke to people in the Middle East, Israeli colonies on the West Bank were increasing and more checkpoints were established to humiliate the Palestinians.
Yet you don't have to be a political scientist to predict that the Middle East will be one of the major challenges facing Obama if he captures the White House. Of course, Obama may just be playing traditional politics, keeping his powder dry, hoping to appeal to as wider base as possible before the election. But that would be a huge disappointment. After all if a candidate is promising change then shouldn't there be a signal of just what that change will entail? For a candidate who has built his campaign on change it is a legitimate question to ask just how much will change.
Obama has inspired high hopes but it is time that more than just hopes were inspired. Obama must give a clear indication of just what his presidency will offer. Otherwise his European tour will be seen as just a glorified photo-opportunity.
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