Being popular does not translate to leadership for Obama

NY Times:

As President Obama welcomes world leaders to the United States this week, he has gone a long way toward meeting his goal of restoring the country’s international standing. Foreign counterparts flock to meet with him, and polls show that people in many countries feel much better about the United States.

But eight months after his inauguration, all that good will so far has translated into limited tangible policy benefits for Mr. Obama. As much as they may prefer to deal with Mr. Obama instead of his predecessor, George W. Bush, foreign leaders have not gone out of their way to give him what he has sought.

European allies still refuse to send significantly more troops to Afghanistan. The Saudis blew off Mr. Obama’s request for concessions to Israel, while Israel rebuffed his demand to stop settlement expansion. North Korea defied him by testing a nuclear weapon. Japan just elected a party less friendly to the United States. Cuba has done little to liberalize in response to modest relaxation of sanctions. India and China are resisting a climate change deal. And Russia rejected new sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program even as Mr. Obama heads into talks with Tehran.

For an administration whose officials regularly boast of having what they call ‘the best brand in the world,’ there is growing “frustration with what other countries are prepared to contribute to advancing supposedly common interests,” said Stephen Sestanovich, a former Clinton administration ambassador with ties to the current team. Personal relations are important, he said, but national interests still dominate. “That’s what American presidents generally discover.”

James K. Glassman, who served as Mr. Bush’s last under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and now leads the former president’s new research institute, said popularity only went so far. “I wouldn’t say it’s not important to be well liked. It is important. But there are other factors involved,” he said. “What you need to do is find out where you have mutual interests.”

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“The problem is he’s asking for roughly the same things President Bush asked for and President Bush didn’t get them, not because he was a boorish diplomat or a cowboy,” said Peter D. Feaver, a former adviser to Mr. Bush now at Duke University. “If that were the case, bringing in the sophisticated, urbane President Obama would have solved the problem. President Bush didn’t get them because these countries had good reasons for not giving them.”

In other words, Russia’s national interests did not change just because Mr. Obama arrived on the scene. India and China still worry about the economic impact of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Europeans may like Mr. Obama but most of them still oppose the war in Afghanistan.

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I think one reason why President Bush was not well liked is because he was so disrespected by Democrats at home. They started echoing the disdain of the Democrats.

In the case of India and China, the Bush polices were much on global warming were much more understanding of their position than Obama's. In fact their position validated his position on the Kyoto Accord.

It is also hard to say that Obama has a more cordial relation with Putin in Russia. In fact, I suspect that Putin had more respect for Bush, even if he might be happy about Obama's retreat on missile defense.

What Obama is finding out is that being voted most popular is not the same as leadership and getting others to accept your point of view. What Obama has mostly been doing is pandering to the prejudices of these countries rather than exhibiting the kind of leadership needed to change their point of view.

Some of it may even be a lack of respect. Too many times Obama has gone around apologizing for America rather than standing up for it and defending it. Taking a supine approach to defending the US has not earned respect, but suggested to some that he can be rolled. The betrayal on missile defense reinforces that opinion.

The Washington Post has a story with a similar theme.