Obama's global approach welcome

It's impossible to know what President Barack Obama will accomplish in the White House. What a US politician says during elections has little resemblance to what he actually does in office. Obama will be no exception.

US presidents are also presented with agendas not of their own making. President Bush's administration was certainly shaped by the September 11 attacks. One wonders how geopolitics would be different today if instead of unleashing US military aggression, he had focused on the seminal causes of terrorism.

Many, including Americans, believe Obama is inheriting a nation in shambles. Liz Oesleby - an American expatriate since the 1980s living in Dubai and a university administrator - believes that relations with the Middle East would not have improved under McCain. Obama is, she says, "someone who will strive to build bridges not increase tensions."

The financial crisis is only the most salient example. Clearly, US government regulators were asleep at the wheel while Wall Street created a reckless scheme to generate lucrative commissions which put global capital markets and economies at serious risk.

Global cooperation

Says Oesleby, "We live in a global community. What happens in one place has an impact, a ripple effect, everywhere. It's time for an American president who looks forward and doesn't live in the past, who seeks to work with other nations as partners."

The domestic economy will undoubtedly occupy much of Obama's energies. Obama told American workers that trade agreements need to be fairer. More reciprocity is needed in Chinese markets, he said. China is dumping goods and manipulating currency exchange rates.

But the smart money glosses over this election palaver, and rightfully so. Privately, he has assured foreign governments that he is committed to international trade. He understands that a US retreat into economic isolationism is unthinkable.

That's why Obama has flatly told American workers that jobs lost through automation and globalisation are not coming back. While unwelcome, his message at least avoided insulting unemployed American workers. They know the best they can hope for in the future is a fair shot in global competition.

That knowledge of a changed future catapulted Obama into the White House. An American software trainer visiting Dubai says that he identifies with McCain but he voted for Obama. Why? "He's the one who can get the job done."

Obama's wide-margin win, coupled with a US Congress dominated by his own political party, means that his administration has the full support of the electorate. But that may have only marginal value in a struggle against special interests.

Many are still betting that Obama will be a transformational president. He takes office at a time where real change is needed. And few are arguing against the need for an American transformation.

Rod Monger is an independent journalist who writes on economic, business and political issues.