Obama and Le Monde diplomatique

Although Barack Obama has drawn huge crowds in Europe (Editor’s note: you can link to his Berlin speech on this site) and has raised high expectations among “second generation immigrants” dreaming of a more multicultural Europe the French “left of the left” is not completely convinced of the Democratic candidate’s promise of change.
Serge Halimi, the editor in chief of Le Monde diplomatique, the leading voice of the “left of the left” in France (and in many countries since the monthly has developed its editions in other countries, reaching up to 2 million copies), has published a scathing critique of Obama’s policies.

The author, who has published books on the rise of global conservatism, recognizes the talent of the candidate and concedes that there is “still some chance that the true friends of the American people can retain the audacity of hope” but he devotes most of his article to debunk “myths” like Obama’s commitment to multilateralism or alleged liberalism. “Imperialism will be softer, subtler, more inclusive and perhaps not quite so murderous”, he writes. “Yes we can” has become “yes we can give a speech to the pro-Israel lobby, supporting the most inflexible positions taken by Ehud Olmert’s government”.
Serge Halimi also takes Obama to task for his refusal to back the abolition of the death penalty and for his acceptance of the role of money in politics.
Interestingly this article has been distributed by Agence Global, a syndication service linked to the New York weekly The Nation. Now, the editors of The Nation seem to have more hope in Obama’s promises than the editor of Le Monde diplomatique. In a detailed article The Nation’s editor in chief Katrina Vanden Heuvel and Robert Borosage choose to minimize Obama’s compromises, “some of them deplorable”, and to focus instead on the possibilities that would be opened by an Obama victory. “Obama clearly offers a change of course”, the authors write. “He carries a reform agenda into the election”.
Fundamentally while Le Monde diplomatique in France has decided that the best way to avoid becoming disillusioned is to not have illusions in the first place a leading section of the U.S. left has decided to bet on Obama and to use that historical moment to mobilize on issues that would make meaningful reform possible. (Read this article on The Nation website http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080901/borosage_kvh)