Obama and the Rise of the Rest (Daily News, EGYPT)

By Zachary Karabell

American elections usually produce a brief euphoria; the public sense of renewal, of future possibilities, acts as a shot of adrenaline. This year, however, the palpable relief and celebration will be tempered by the widely shared sense that all is not well in America.

The economic data are almost uniformly bleak and will not improve soon, and, while national security issues appear less pressing because of the financial crisis, they have hardly disappeared, given the tenuous situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the unresolved problems in Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Moreover, the power of America’s presidency, and of the United States, has undergone dramatic shifts in recent years, making our era unlike earlier periods when the world was in flux and a new American president faced deep challenges.

Until recently, it was possible to speak of “the rise of the rest” without forecasting a decrease in American power. Now, with the US military at its limit in Iraq and Afghanistan and the US fiscal position weakening, America is confronted with stark choices. That is an unfamiliar position for a new US president. Even in the dark years after Vietnam in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a sense that America could still make its economic choices without much reference to the wider world. That was the privilege of having the largest, most dynamic economy — and one that acted as a world creditor. No more.

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