Obama to go hat in hand to the Russians to beg forgiveness.

[DGuller]

One thing is for sure: in that region there are no good guys.  It's pretty much always bad guys versus worse guys.

[Hansmeister]

From the WaPo:

Obama, Going Along to Get Along

By Jackson Diehl
Sunday, April 5, 2009; A15



Barack Obama has proved in the past few days that he can work smoothly and productively with a wide range of foreign leaders -- provided that he allows them to set the agenda.

The president's whirl of bilateral and multilateral meetings in London, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden, Prague and Ankara produced a string of glowing communiques announcing "real and lasting progress on a host of these issues," as Obama proudly put it. There were certainly some tangible results, such as the promise of a new U.S.-Russian treaty to reduce nuclear weapons and the Group of 20's agreement to inject more than $1 trillion into the global economy through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

What's striking about Obama's diplomacy, however, has been his willingness to embrace the priorities of European governments, Russia and China while playing down -- or setting aside altogether -- principal American concerns.

As U.S. officials readily acknowledge, strategic arms control is of much greater interest to Russia -- whose nuclear arsenal is rapidly deteriorating -- than it is to the United States. From Washington's perspective, stopping Iran's nuclear program is far more urgent than agreeing on the next incremental reduction in Cold War warheads. Yet Obama essentially consented in his first summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to devote the next four months of U.S.-Russian relations to an intensive effort to complete a new START treaty. No such cooperation on Iran is on the horizon. "I don't think we want to suggest that somehow . . . there's agreement about how to proceed," one U.S. briefer conceded.

The G-20 and NATO summits followed a similar pattern. Even before Obama traveled to Europe, his administration surrendered on the biggest U.S. priorities -- which were prompting Germany and other Western European countries to boost domestic spending and dispatch more troops and trainers to Afghanistan. With stimulus off the table, the economic summit centered on the platform of Germany and France -- expanding government regulation -- and on areas of general agreement, such as the provision of fresh funding for the IMF.

While the Europeans didn't get all they wanted, they succeeded in setting a framework for responding to the economic crisis that will tilt the global economy toward continental norms. The NATO summit showcased France's return to the alliance's command structure -- another initiative of French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- while offering only short-term contributions of troops for Afghanistan's elections this summer. Less than 2,000 trainers will join the 24,000 American reinforcements arriving in Afghanistan this year.

Obama's deferential approach was manifest in his public statements, which described shrinking U.S. influence as a positive development. At times the president sounded almost apologetic about past American primacy. "Last time you saw the entire international architecture being remade . . . it's just Roosevelt and Churchill sitting in a room with a brandy," he said at a news conference Thursday. "But that's not the world we live in. And that shouldn't be the world that we live in."

The president did offer a measured pitch for continued U.S. leadership. "America is a critical actor and leader on the world stage, and we shouldn't be embarrassed about that," he said in London. "But we exercise our leadership best when we are listening, when we recognize the world is a complicated place and that we are going to have to act in partnership with other countries, when we lead by example, when we show some element of humility and recognize we may not always have the best answer."

Other leaders were less humble; in fact, they appeared eager to exploit Obama's pliability. Sarkozy deemed his demands for more statism "nonnegotiable" and threatened a walkout if they weren't heeded. (They were.) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she wasn't willing to even discuss the American appeal for more government spending. "That is not a bargaining chip," she tartly pronounced.

It could be that Obama's approach will prove effective over time. Once Russia is granted the place it craves as a nuclear negotiating partner of the United States, the prickly regime may prove more willing to toughen sanctions on Iran and North Korea in the name of countering proliferation. Obama's soft sell of U.S. leadership could go over well with European publics, if not with their leaders; that may increase receptivity to American proposals in areas such as energy and climate change.

For many around the world, Obama's diplomacy will certainly look like a refreshing change from that of George W. Bush. Yet in Washington, some may compare it to his handling of early domestic legislation, where he has allowed congressional Democrats to take control and set priorities. Is the new president shrewd and pragmatic about using his power at home and abroad -- or too passive, even weak? That's a question worth weighing as he heads back to Washington.

Even liberal commentators at the WaPo are realizing that Obama is a pussy.  Weak and pathetic.  We reelected Jimmy Carter.

[Jacob]

The reason why your commentary has such resonance Hans, is that it's such a change from what you've said previously.

[Warspite]

Diplomacy is about letting foreign states have your own way. It would not be much of a break with the previous administration's approach to international affairs if he turned and started throwing his weight around. He is not so much being a "pussy" as he is realising that this is not the time for threats and ultimatums. Sarkozy is weak politically back home; he needed to put on a show at the G20 with his hint that the French chair could be empty. Nevertheless he has defied his critics and fully reintegrated France back into the NATO command structure. Yet, somehow, this victory for Atlanticism and US interests is presented as a failure for Obama, because it was Sarkozy's idea.

On getting European governments to boost domestic spending, I am not sure what the article is saying. It seems a swipe at the Germans. yet for all Gordon Brown's bluster, the Germans are actually spending more as a percentage of GDP on stimulus packages than the British, and I do not hear wails about the UK package from the US.

As for Afghanistan, it is curious to paint the lack of European commitments as a black mark against Obama considering the unequal burden-sharing in NATO has been a problem for years and years, through the Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush II years. But now Obama is weak and ineffective because European governments are not going to increase military spending on operations during a worldwide economic crisis. At least blame the right people.

[Queequeg]

The reason why your commentary has such resonance Hans, is that it's such a change from what you've said previously.

Don't blame Hans; eight years of Bush administration "diplomacy " has made him deaf to anything that isn't as loud as F-14s taking off an air carrier during a metal concert. 

[Siege]

Sure... other Nationalities like apologizing. None of us believe Americans do so out of any kind of sincerity though.  :walksoftly&... :

Exactly. What's the point if whatever you do they hate you?

[Razgovory]

Sure... other Nationalities like apologizing. None of us believe Americans do so out of any kind of sincerity though.  :walksoftly&... :

Exactly. What's the point if whatever you do they hate you?

The Arabs say the same thing.

[Siege]

Sure... other Nationalities like apologizing. None of us believe Americans do so out of any kind of sincerity though.  :walksoftly&... :

Exactly. What's the point if whatever you do they hate you?

The Arabs say the same thing.

What the hell are you talking about?
We treat arabs like children. We let them do things we would never tolerate on the West, and even justify it, blaming it on ourselves.

Can you name the last time ANY arab apologized for anything?

[Siege]

There's no harm in talking nice to Russia, provided nothing important is given away.

This is what JFK thought, which is how he ended up careening from crisis to crisis.

Obama's groveling in response to continuous provocation is an embarrassement.

Embarrasing?
Worst, far worst.
You can be sure it is being read as weakness.
All the re-enlistment bonus have been cut by 15%.
What do you think our enemies see in this policy?

[Razgovory]

Sure... other Nationalities like apologizing. None of us believe Americans do so out of any kind of sincerity though.  :walksoftly&... :

Exactly. What's the point if whatever you do they hate you?

The Arabs say the same thing.

What the hell are you talking about?
We treat arabs like children. We let them do things we would never tolerate on the West, and even justify it, blaming it on ourselves.

Can you name the last time ANY arab apologized for anything?

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1003223,00.html  that was easy.

[Siege]

Sure... other Nationalities like apologizing. None of us believe Americans do so out of any kind of sincerity though.  :walksoftly&... :

Exactly. What's the point if whatever you do they hate you?

The Arabs say the same thing.

What the hell are you talking about?
We treat arabs like children. We let them do things we would never tolerate on the West, and even justify it, blaming it on ourselves.

Can you name the last time ANY arab apologized for anything?

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1003223,00.html  that was easy.

Please nigga, we are not talking of random people here.

[Neil]

Embarrasing?
Worst, far worst.
You can be sure it is being read as weakness.
All the re-enlistment bonus have been cut by 15%.
What do you think our enemies see in this policy?

That the US is going back to the Clinton-type policies of avoiding putting men on the ground, and when someone annoys them they get bombed?

Still, the US is wise not to waste money on soldiers.

[Martinus]

Have the Arabs apologized for Siegy yet?

[Razgovory]

Please nigga, we are not talking of random people here.

I was asked a question.  I answered.  The fault lies not with me but in your question.