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January 22, 2009
Few modern presidents since FDR have entered the White House with as much of the world crashing around them as Barack Obama.
Within days of his arrival in the White House, Jimmy Carter created an enormous problem for his administration by pardoning all Americans who were convicted of having avoided the Vietnam draft. As Ronald Reagan took the oath of office in 1981, America’s hostages in Tehran were beginning their long trek home from Iran after 444 days in captivity.
Sixteen years ago, when Bill Clinton came to Washington, he provoked a major political storm as he tried to enact a “don’t ask, don’t tell” standard for gays in the military.
Now the 44th president of the United States faces the most daunting economic crisis, both domestic and international, in a generation. He also will inherit from the departing administration the task of trying to find a resolution to the conflagration between the Israelis and Hamas.
These immediate crises loom for the new president, without even considering the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a staggering list of domestic social challenges, an unprecedented budget deficit, a challenged U.S. policy regarding incarcerated “enemy combatants,” and many more.
This “modest” laundry list, accompanied by the need for the new Obama people to learn where the bathrooms are, suggests that they have no time to develop working relationships with Washington’s entrenched establishment. In addition, these dominant and immediate issues will test the viability of the new Obama team’s style and technique for problem solving: less partisanship, more hands-on crisis management, and deeper longer-term solutions.
The economy and Gaza will draw immediate attention. Effectively creating a constructive resolution to the Gaza war could present the new president an opportunity to make his mark, and score points. The new president is faced with extending the Hamas offer of a one-week cease-fire made in response to Israel’s unilateral cease-fire. Unless it wants to be drawn into taking sides in an active war, the Obama foreign policy team will have little choice but to try to make the cease-fire hold — a test that Hamas has clearly placed before the new government.
Despite the volatility of the conflict, President Obama and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton — as well as whomever he appoints as special envoy to the Middle East — have an extraordinary opportunity to set some clear, new marks in four different directions in addressing this conflict, which had been largely left dormant by the Bush administration during its first seven years.
For Israel, Obama needs to reassure the Israelis that his administration, like President Bush’s, will support Israel’s right to protect itself from terrorist attacks in Gaza. In addition, the new government in Washington will make clear demands on outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as well as to his successor after the Feb. 10 election. It will insist on dramatic, active engagement by the Israeli government in addressing humanitarian needs and opening border crossings in Gaza, matters in which the United States could immediately participate.
At the same time the new administration, as a gesture of support for the Palestinian Authority, could call for definitive action in dismantling West Bank settlements, beginning with the illegal outposts. At the same time, the Obama team will be careful to prevent their demands on Israel from becoming campaign issues in Israel. (This strategy permits the Israelis, the American Jews, the Palestinians, and worldwide human rights activists to get something immediately.)
For the Muslim world, the new president plans to address Islamic-based terrorism in a major address expected prior to the July G-8 conference in Italy. Obama is likely to offer major incentives to cooperate with economic development and peace for the Palestinians, in return for major pressure to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons and to control radical Islamists.
For the West, quick engagement by the Obama administration in resolving the Gaza crisis will enable the new president to demonstrate to America’s allies that he is willing to engage global crises with active, creative, even unpopular policies. The need to establish a serious economic boycott of Iran by the West could be part of the response that Obama may require for a heightened and reenergized U.S. engagement in the world.
While there will be no quick solutions to the long-standing differences between the Israelis and the Palestinians, this administration can give notice that it has serious markers ready to lay down. Similarly, such action will also demonstrate that while the worldwide economic crisis will not be resolved quickly, it, too, can be addressed, if the right tools are used, able minds are in place, hard choices are demanded, and the administration is given some time.
It will not be easy. Governing never is. The opening days of the Obama presidency may well give a brand new meaning to the notion of hitting the ground running.
Dr. Gilbert N. Kahn is a professor of political science at Kean University in Union (e-mail gkahn@kean.edu).
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