Obama is focusing too much on the bad stuff

Everyone’s weighing in on Barack Obama’s first year, and I suppose I can’t resist — with the caveat that it’s far too early to judge his presidency, etc., etc.

I’m worried, frankly, but perhaps not for the same reasons as some other folks might be. Here’s my overarching concern: Obama is focusing on foreign-policy problems, not opportunities. He’s stabilizing the U.S. economy, working the Iran nuclear issue, trying to wind down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring peace in Israel/Palestine, struggling to contain a dangerous situation in Pakistan, and renegotiating nuclear treaties with the far-off goal being a world without atomic weapons.

Working these tough issues is necessary, especially after the mess George W. Bush left behind, and I don’t have too many gripes about the new president’s approach to them. What Obama’s not doing, however, is more worrisome. He’s not presenting a positive vision of a prosperous world, and he’s spending too much time worrying about  failing backwaters like Yemen and Afghanistan and too little time thinking about the places that work, like East Asia and Europe.

Yes, it’s true that in this day and age, threats can come from anywhere and failed states are often  incubators of terrorism and instability. Duly noted. Yet the United States became a globla hegemon not only by being the world’s policeman and firefighter, but also by being its banker, lawyer, and retailer.

Obviously, the financial crisis has hurt America’s economic credibility, but there are still plenty of countries eager to trade with the United States. A great example of a missed opportunity is Obama’s recent trip to Asia, where the region’s dynamic leaders were clearly disappointed that the U.S. president had so little to offer them on trade. Or look at Europe, where elites are feeling snubbed by perhaps the most “European” American president in recent memory.

Now that the health-care bill seems to be on its way to becoming law, and the economy is recovering, I hope Obama will start to focus on the future he wants to build for the world, not just the dangers he hopes to neutralize.

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