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A hopeful world waits for change

A friend returned from an extended visit to Hong Kong last week and told me folks she met there thought the U.S. Government was a “bully.” The truthiness of that comment (to steal from Colbert) makes me cringe, even as I am reminded of a poll claiming Americans don’t care about global approval. As a mother of teenagers, the peer pressure issue has me conflicted. Obviously I want my kids to make smart choices regardless of what “everybody else does or says” and yet, when I think of the U.S. walking out on the Kyoto Treaty or snubbing the U.N. by invading Iraq, among other things, I wince. The fact is, I never liked bullies, and I don’t find it a particularly effective form of international relations. With this election’s drastic choice for change in U.S. leadership (particularly compared to McCain’s more-Hawkish-than-Bush approach to foreign relations), our government has an opportunity to redo its global relationships. World reactions to Obama as president-elect reflect this hopeful and watchful stance. Despite fears from domestic conservatives that he may be too soft or too willing to talk to our enemies, Obama is smart, tough, and invested in leaving a legacy of success. The only way he will do that is to strengthen alliances, lead wisely, and yes, dialogue with folks we don’t like. It won’t be easy, and a variety of views show high expectations and cynicism abound. But the reality is that a majority of Americans demanded a new type of leadership on Nov. 4, 2008, and that act alone has renewed world hope in the United States and the promise of democracy. Now is the time to end the bully-in-the-playground approach to world politics, and use brains and diplomacy for a change.

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