European politicians do not seem to get it when it comes to use the word "liberal" in the U.S. context. In Belgium "libéral" (i.e. center-right) politician Alain Destexhe refers to Obama as "one of us" while Ecolo MP Jean-Marc Nollet rejects Obama as a "one of them", as a "libéral" i.e. someone that belongs to the same ideological clan than Bush. The will to define one's own politics in relation to the U.S. testifies to...the power of the U.S. The Obama inauguration has been a smashing hit for the U.S. soft power and a day of reckoning for Europe. Who among European politicians can inspire as much passion as Obama? Who in Europe would have dared to write such an inaugural address?
The drama of Europe is in this comparison: the idealism, the calls for hard work and honesty, the progressive patriotism, the aspiration for more ethics and courage, would seem déplacé and even would be scorned upon in most European circles.The European construction, though, had been for years an inspiration that could be compared to the American dream. Such leaders as Adenauer, Schuman, Delors, were able to frame Europe as a great and challenging adventure. In the last 15 years with the adoption of a purely free trade and technocratic agenda the oratory has become stale. The vision has been replaced by short-sighted realpolitik. The advent of Barack Obama has made the EU failings appear all the more apparent. Too bad for us. It might even lead some grumpy and jealous Europeans to hope that Obama will fail so that the European "frigidity" (to quote professor Eli Barnavi's book "on frigid Europe") will again appear more attractive as it was when Washington was ruled by the Bushites and the neocons, such an easy target.The European progressives that look down on Obama as "not of one of us" should at least read (but do they read in English?) what the U.S. progressive community thinks about their new President. I advise them to link to Bill Scher on the progressive website Campaign for America's Future http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009010421/liberal-inaugural-address
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From the other side of the puddle: yes, we find it no loner necessary to hang our heads in shame when visiting Europe. But, in the spirit of finding a cloud withe every silver lining (the definition of "liberal" in the US context), there is a danger of deflation in the activist community in the US. Some of our best people will go into government. That's good! We hope they do well there. But it impoverishes the NGO sector. And the tremendous support and financial backing that we have mobilized in the Bush years may dissipate without the "common enemy." Look at how The Nation magazine (a flagship of the American left) grew its circulation in the Bush years. What will happen now? How will Human Rights Watch criticism of the Obama administration -- and believe me, there will be some -- be received among liberals who were uncomfortable with a powerful state when the state was run by George Bush, but may not feel the same when Obama's in charge?
Stay tuned...
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