The Wednesday evening before the U.S. Presidential Elections, JANERA.com hosted the Global Nomad Pre-Election Cocktail Party at Splashlight in New York’s SoHo.
In discussion was how a McCain or an Obama presidency would impact the rest of the world—a theme tailored to the large international pack that had gathered. Two experts, Nisid Hajari, foreign editor of Newsweek, and Scott Malcomson, foreign editor of the New York Times Magazine spoke at separate intervals throughout the night, and then fielded questions from the audience.
As the crowd in the white loft space swelled to nearly double what we’d expected (to nearly 80 attendees), I made the rounds to catch an earful of the early evening chatter.
One woman I spoke with, a New York-based designer, said that the reason she attended was because, as an American, her reputation abroad is defined by her president’s foreign policy. “I need to know how I will be represented to the world,” she stated. “I don’t agree with Bush, but as an American, I am affiliated with what he does. I need to agree with how the next president handles his overseas affairs.”
Passing the cocktail bar, I overheard an Australian man, on holiday from Sydney, tell a fellow attendee that in Australia, the locals are praying for an Obama victory. Given Australia’s recent political turn (conservative Prime Minister and Bush ally, John Howard, was voted out of office late last year and replaced with the left-leaning Kevin Rudd), I felt his insights could be especially significant, so I asked him why. “The world needs a new direction,” he offered. “McCain relates too closely to Bush. Obama gives the chance to change the past eight years. No one feels McCain will even offer that chance.”
After a generous hour of much wine and socializing, Janera took to the stage to introduce the two speakers, though not without a touch of her own uniquely foreign perspective. “The rest of the world wants Barack Obama,” she declared, garnering applause, “Is he the best guy for the job? The world thinks so.”
Hajari opened with a point confirming the relevance of the night’s very theme. “No matter how restrained or weak the U.S. may appear,” he noted, “it is still the biggest power in the world.”
While saying that the two candidates have more in common than many would believe (both have personal experiences which could shape their Asian foreign policy: McCain as a former prisoner of the Viet Cong, and Obama as a former resident of Indonesia), Hajari ultimately established their differences on key countries: North Korea (“McCain is not convinced that Kim Jong Il will give up his nukes”), Iran (“Obama would attempt direct diplomacy; McCain would not”) and Russia (“McCain is less entranced with those big guys; Obama thinks of the bigger picture”).
In contrast, Malcomson took a more philosophical approach, focusing on one key factor that would distinguish an Obama foreign policy from a McCain one: the use of principles.
“An Obama presidency would be less driven by morals and principles than a McCain presidency would be,” he asserted. He explained that McCain’s policies may be too predetermined by the inclusion of his own morals. He had a good point—during the debates, McCain said he would never negotiate with countries that harbor terrorists and by all accounts he would’ve been unwilling to budge on domestic social issues such as gay rights and abortion.
“In my opinion,” said Malcomson, “one of the reasons why the Bush presidency was so problematic, is that there were too many principles.”
A brief question-and-answer session followed, where Hajari and Malcomson tackled queries covering topics from global warming (“climate change cannot be solved on a national level”) to Chinese involvement in international affairs (“no international system functions without China”) to Palin’s credentials (“She has offered none of her own ideas on foreign policy”).
When asked about the candidates’ Foreign Policy teams, our experts disagreed. Malcomson said Camp McCain is more solid, steady and unified in its vision. The Obama advisors, he surprised some of us by saying, do not seem to agree on much.
Hajari was quick to weigh in. “The McCain advisors may be a more intellectual bunch,” he concurred, “But they are much less coherent than Obama’s.
On a question regarding religion, Malcomson provided one of the night’s more interesting insights. “The misconception to some that Obama is Muslim could help him overseas,” he pointed out. “People in the Middle East may believe it to be true,” he said. “And that could therefore help his foreign policy in that region.”
And perhaps this will prove so. With election day now behind us, we will all see exactly how president-elect Obama approaches the world. And how, if at all, his policies will mend those of the past eight years, creating a better international path for the future.
Comments