Obama and Africa

As if Barack Obama didn’t have enough on his plate as American President, he has taken time to forge a new direction in US foreign policy on Africa. Last week he made a bold speech where he argued that the continent could no longer apportion the blame on the effects of colonialism.

Instead, he argued, good governance was a surer path to increased well-being for its people. There’s a good debate to be had here for development economists. But for the purposes of this blog I would draw your attention to a great piece here from the BBC website.

What next for Obama? Challenges faced up to so far: the economic downturn; global warming; Guantanamo; nuclear weapons; Cuba; China; Iraq; Afghanistan; health care; first Hispanic on the bench. I hope I didn’t miss anything out.

The most revered Presidents govern America during a time of national crisis, e.g. FDR and the Great Depression as well as WWII, Lincoln and the Civil War. In other words, great men who have risen to great challenges. If Obama manages to fix any one of the challenges he has set himself then he will be regarded as a good leader. Sort out more than one and he will be remembered as a great one.

I think last year was a great time to be following American politics, both through the scintillating battle between Hillary Clinton and Obama in the primaries, as well as the historic election itself. Obama knows as well as anyone that campaigns are in poetry and government is in prose. If that’s the case, what prose! I can’t think of a more exciting time to be watching how American government works. The power of the presidency both domestically and internationally. The importance of the separation of powers. Meltdown of the Republican challenge. These issues are all well covered not just by the American press (which is, of course, far more accessible now than ten years ago), but the British media too. Making connections between events going on at the moment and the meat and drink of American Politics courses couldn’t be easier.

I hope bloggers will keep up to date with the latest key events during the Obama presidency in this special section of the Politics Blog site.

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