The Speech We Should Have Heard at the G-20 (Der Spiegel, GERMANY)

At the financial summit in Washington, the international community was unduly respectful of the United States, neglecting to probe more deeply into the reasons for the crisis. Only one attendee was unruly -- German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück. Here's the message he didn't deliver to Bush.

First, the true part of the story: US President George W. Bush had invited the leaders of the world's 20 most important countries to a dinner at the White House last Friday evening. Because the financial crisis was the topic of discussion, each leader had the option of bringing along his or her finance minister. The first course, smoked quail, was to be served at 7:20 p.m.

Everyone was on time, except one man.

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What Obama means to the Baltics (Baltic Times, LATVIA)

Nov 12, 2008
by Monika Hanley

RIGA - The world was forever changed Nov. 4, as news of the election of the U.S.’s first African-American president resounded across the globe.

Kenya, the home country of Obama’s father, was rejoicing and singing as the news reached them. In the U.S., an unprecedented reaction to the election results was witnessed from Seattle to Washington D.C. – roads were closed down and blocked off as people took to the streets, dancing and singing, and wrapped in American flags, most celebrating until the early hours of the morning.

Though the Republican U.S. ambassador to Latvia, Charles Larson, looked visibly disappointed, he agreed with members of the government and locals on one thing. Obama means change.

“This is a historic and exciting day,” he said.

There are worries that he won’t be able to live up to the wild expectations that some people have, but none doubt that changes are coming.

BALTIC REACTION

“We’ll see what happens,” said local Latvian teacher Juris Klavins, who is hesitant to jump on the bandwagon of excited Obama fanatics. This seems to be the norm across the Baltics, a region that historically never hurries to accept new leadership too soon.

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Outsourcing biggest concern for India post-Bush (Hindustan Times, INDIA)

New Delhi, November 16, 2008

Outsourcing by US companies will be the biggest concern for India due to the change in US administration next year, says a global research firm.

"For India, the biggest concerns perhaps in over its important outsourcing industry, as the practice of shifting jobs overseas had come under fire during the US presidential campaign," Moody's economy.Com, a subsidiary of global research firm Moody's Corporation, has said in a report.

In February this year, continuing to play the anti-outsourcing card, Obama, the then Democrat presidential front-runner, had said, while America cannot "shy away" from globalisation, it would have to take measures to ensure that jobs are not shipped overseas.

"We have to stop providing tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas and give those tax breaks to companies that are investing here in the United States of America," Obama had said during a debate with rival Senator Hillary Clinton in Cleveland, Ohio.

However, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Saturday that the US has given an assurance to India that the policies to strengthen bilateral ties will continue and felt that outsourcing, a hot topic during the US presidential polls, will not be an issue.

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No worries over Obama administration (Hindustan Times, INDIA)

On Board Air India One, November 16, 2008

India has no reason to feel uneasy over the change in the US administration following the takeover of president-elect Barak Obama on Jan 20 next year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.

"From whatever feedback I have, I think we have no reason to be apprehensive about the change of regime in the United States," the prime minister said on his way back from a financial summit hosted by US President George W. Bush in Washington.

"I think there is general recognition in the US regarding the role that India can play, India should play. There is considerable appreciation of the way Indian economy is managed," he said.

The prime minister said it was with this intention that Obama had recently sent former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and Congressman Tom Leach, who chairs a House committee on Asia, to interact with Indian government representatives.

"They have given us all the positive indication, so there is no reason to have any doubts about the intentions of the Obama administration towards India."

The two had met with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen before the prime minister had arrived in Washington.

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Barack Obama should lead Middle East peace efforts, says Tony Blair (Telegraph, UK)

Tony Blair has called on Barack Obama to lead the world in finding a solution to conflict in the Middle East.

The former Prime Minister said the new President would have the chance to heal divisions in an 'era of real possibility'.

Speaking during a visit to Rwanda, Mr Blair said world leaders had been too tied up with their own domestic agendas to focus properly on the decades-old Middle East conflict.

He admitted that though he tried to influence the Middle East peace process while serving as Prime Minister, his efforts were doomed because he could not acquire the necessary detailed understanding of the issues.

And he said Mr Obama could heal rifts between America and Europe by being prepared to champion causes regarded as priorities in Europe such as the Middle East, poverty and the environment.

"I think he can say to Europe, look I'm going to champion a global deal on climate change, I'm going to take the Middle East peace process seriously, I'm going to make sure that poverty in Africa is right at the top of the agenda, I'm going to listen to your concerns and get a shared agenda with you."

He said progress would come if America, Europe and the international community delegated genuine authority to envoys tasked with focusing fully on issues such as peace in the Middle East.

Since standing down as prime minister, Mr Blair accepted a number of jobs including the position of Palestinian development envoy for the Quartet – the grouping of America, Russia, the United Nations and European Union.

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Michelle Obama should 'take a back seat', says Cherie Blair (Telegraph, UK)

Cherie Blair has advised Michelle Obama that she should "learn to take a back seat" during her husband's presidency.

Mrs Blair, who was criticised for several controversies during her husband Tony's premiership, warned Mrs Obama that she faced "hard adjustments" as her family prepared to enter the White House.

She warned that the soon-to-be First Lady should "remember that it is not you who was elected" and be wary of political opponents suggesting that she held the "power behind the throne".

In a newspaper article, Mrs Blair wrote: "You have to learn to take a back seat, not just in public but in private. When your spouse is late to put the kids to bed, or for dinner, or your plans for the weekend are turned upside-down again, you simply have to accept that he had something more important to do.

"You can't confuse being a sounding board with having influence over decisions. You always have to remember that it is not you who was elected.

"The power behind the throne is a line of attack political opponents are only too keen to deploy, as Hillary Clinton discovered."

In the article, which was published in The Times, Mrs Blair admitted that following the advice is "not always easy", adding: "I can't say I always bore this with equanimity."

She added that some sections of the US media had sought to portray Mrs Obama "as another Hillary, angrier and more divisive than her husband", in what she described as a "damaging stereotype".

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This was not King's dream (Telegraph, UK)

Debating whether Britain could elect a black PM distracts from the true purport of Obama's win.

Since Black Wednesday, when the world woke up to Barack Obama as president of the United States (so why shouldn't black be a positive adjective for once?), arguments have raged over whether Britain could ever have a black leader.

No, says Trevor Phillips, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission: our political parties are too institutionally racist. Yes, replies Sadiq Khan, the communities minister Sadiq Khan. And stop being so negative, adds Lord Taylor, the black former Tory parliamentary candidate.

Of course, the whole discussion is ridiculous - a year ago all three commentators would have agreed that we'll never have a black US president. What Obama has done so spectacularly is prove that, however improbable an event may be, we can never write it off as impossible.

In an attempt to claim that Obama had an easier ride than a woman might have had, Linda Colley asked on these pages this week: "Would a Barbara Obama, after just one term as senator, have stood a chance of being elected to the Oval Office?" Of course it's not likely. But if you'd asked the same question of a black man a couple of years ago, the notion would have appeared equally preposterous. It depends on the man. And it depends on the woman. After all, Margaret Thatcher herself said she never expected to see a female prime minister in her lifetime - just a couple of years before becoming Conservative leader.

The one thing both Obama and Thatcher have in common is that they are exceptional politicians - reaffirming the saying that if you're black, or a woman, you have to be twice as good as your white or male colleagues to get to the top. Both, by force of their personalities, overthrew their parties' establishment candidates. We will have to wait in hope to see if Obama can leave such an enduring legacy as his British counterpart.

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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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Cool Moscow Will Wait For Obama (St. Petersburg Times, RUSSIA)

Moscow signaled over the weekend that relations with Washington will come to a virtual standstill until President-elect Barack Obama assumes office in January, rejecting new U.S. proposals on missile defense and nuclear arms reduction.

President Dmitry Medvedev also spoke by telephone with Obama, and the two agreed to meet soon, possibly at a summit on the global financial crisis in Washington this week, the Kremlin said.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday that Moscow was not satisfied with new U.S. proposals on missile defense and nuclear arms reduction and that positions expressed earlier by Obama provided hope for a “more constructive” approach.

“We have paid attention to the positions that Barack Obama has published on his site. They instill hope that we can examine these questions in a more constructive way,” Lavrov said after an 80-minute meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the sidelines of a Middle East peace conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Lavrov said there would be further consultations on defense issues with the United States this year but suggested that any final agreements would likely come only after the Obama administration takes office on Jan. 20.

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Gasparri Says Obama Win Will Please Al Qaeda (Corriere della Sera, ITALY)

President Napolitano focuses on “great sign of the vitality of American democracy”, and “unity” of two rivals.

ROME – Barack Obama’s victory has Italian politicians agreeing, at least on an adjective. The election of a black president to the White House is “historic” and could “change the world”. But there is bitter controversy over the jubilation of the Centre-left at the Democratic candidate’s triumph. Hackles were also raised by a statement from the People of Freedom’s group leader in the Senate, Maurizio Gasparri, which upset the PD and other political groups. “There are lots of question marks over Obama. With him in the White House, Al Qaeda could well be happier”.

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What Europe Wants from Obama (Der Spiegel, GERMANY)

In conversations and e-mail exchanges with SPIEGEL ONLINE, European leaders and thinkers express their wishes for US President-elect Barack Obama. Yes, they want the US to join the Kyoto successor. And, yes, they want to see Guantanamo close. But many also know that theirs is a view from Mars.

DPA

Barack Obama in Berlin: "If we're honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart, and forgotten our shared destiny."

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Obama wins historic US election (BBC, UK)

Democratic Senator Barack Obama has been elected the first black president of the United States, prompting celebrations across the country.

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight... change has come to America," the president-elect told a jubilant crowd at a victory rally in Chicago.

His rival John McCain accepted defeat, and called on his supporters to lend the next president their goodwill.

The BBC's Justin Webb says the result will have a profound impact on the US.

He says the American people have made two fundamental statements about themselves: that they are profoundly unhappy with the status quo, and that they are slamming the door on the country's racial past.

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