Will Barack Obama be a radical environmentalist? Or will fossil-fuel lobbies carry him off?
The identity aspect--Obama is a member of Kenya's Luo tribe.A member of that tribe couldn't become president of Kenya, but a Luo's son has been elected president of the US. The environment aspect--In his acceptance speech, Obama elaborated on the "planet in peril" theme. In fact, has been quite outspoken on climate and energy matters. He has been much clearer than our leaders in Europe for quite some time. The policy-paradigm aspect--Obama wants health-care coverage for everyone and has always disputed the free-market-trickle-down ideology, arguing instead for an active role of governments. The cultural aspect--Cosmopolitanism has for once trumped parochialism in the US. The president of the US will have a Muslim name, have gone to school in Jakarta and will be from one of the most diverse neighbourhoods of a major US agglomeration--all this is very inspiring. Hopes on multilateral issues- I have a feeling that Obama understands that the US is not running an empire but is merely the most powerful country on earth, which has to play a leading and constructive role in multilateral politics if there is ever to be anything like a stable and equitable world order. Hans Dembowski is the editor of the Frankfurt-based monthly D+C Development and Cooperation www.inwent.org/d+c
