(NOT) ANOTHER SHADE OF PALE? THE PROMISES AND EXPECTATIONS FOR A NEW PRESIDENT - November 5, 2008  

America still seemed to be considering whether it would, could elect a President

of color even after most of the rest of the world seemed to take it as a foregone conclusion. On November 4, 2008 the United States finally caught up with the image that much of the rest of the world, from Berlin to Nairobi, already was prepared to embrace. The election of Barack Hussein Obama was a confirmation of identity long touted but frequently doubted, of a land of equal opportunity and tolerance.

The world has for some time become accustomed to US global leadership, but perhaps that was something that was already ending. There has been an immense disappointment over the last decade, maybe even more with the hypocrisy than actual behavior. The rule of law and fair play had become like a marquee title to some old western film still trying to draw an audience for half price at the matinee. The election of Barack Obama will undoubtedly impact US policy toward the rest of the world. More critically though now, the rest of the world is prepared to give America another chance to lead and on a clean slate.

President Obama has been given a huge mandate, both in terms of actual numbers voting for him

and the enthusiasm. This is not a usual mandate,

but borne out of the darkness that America has stumbled through for the last decade. It is not a mandate to go back to the happy-go-lucky Clinton Presidency themes and style. Frankly that was a cautious, expeditious White House. The American constituency and the global optimists are looking forward and not backward, for the track that is to

be set over the next few years.

The expectations are for much more for an Obama Presidency, at least because it is so breathtaking

in historical context and sweeping up positive

global engagement and enthusiasm. Perhaps we

saw similar optimism at the outset of the George Herbert Bush Presidency in the opportunities offered by the collapse of the "Iron Curtain." Perhaps we all believed in the youthful idealism of President Bill Clinton striding confidently into the challenge as he walked down Broadway after accepting the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in New York City in 1992. That idealism slipped away in the lack of courage of the US response to the mass murders of Rwanda, the killing fields of Bosnia, regardless if we call it ethnic cleansing or genocide.

George W. Bush had been credited with an immense trust and mandate on September 12, 2001, unsurpassed in modern political history. Without hyperbole, it is evident that he has failed us, and himself.

The eloquence of Barack's words now needs to be reflected in the courage of President Obama's deeds. Neither a worn path nor incrementalism will allow his Presidency to feed its transformational agenda. The American constituency and the global enthusiasts of American leadership and democracy expect more than another shade of pale.

Muhamed Sacirbey

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Mr. Muhamed Sacirbey holds B.A. degree in history and J. D. degree from Tulane University in New Orleans. He also holds M.B.A. degree from Columbia University. Prior to becoming Bosnia’s Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United Nations, he practiced as an attorney in New York City and worked for several years as an investment banker. He presently writes his book “A Convenient Genocide, in a fishbowl ” and is a commentator on human rights and political issues.

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