Dear Fourth Estate: Enough with the Brand Obama stories, already

Peter Feaver:

Most over-reported story: I agree with my wing-man, Will Inboden: the “restoration” of America’s soft power has been reported more often than it has been accomplished. To be sure, we have seen a rapid re-inflation of soft-power assets, but it has had all the markings of a soft-power asset bubble. The president is still struggling to figure out how to translate his enormous global popularity into tangible gains for American national interest.

Under-appreciated story: The decline of American relations with the other great powers.  The flip-side of over-reporting the popularity of the President is a failure to see that, down the line, our relations with the other great powers have eroded from where they were a few years ago. In some cases, say Japan or China, this cannot be blamed entirely on President Obama or his team’s diplomatic efforts. The new Japanese government would be a tough nut for any national security team to crack, and President Bush’s remarkably warm partnership with Koizumi probably represented an artificially high level. Similarly, China and India are especially tricky relationships that have changed dramatically since the last time the Obama team’s Asia hands were in positions of power; they are learning that crafting a decent Asia strategy that balances both the bilateral and the multilateral relationships is a bit harder than simply claiming that “American is back.” In other areas, such as relations with the United Kingdom or even France, self-inflicted diplomatic wounds seem more consequential. Devoted Obama-philes would claim that relations with Russia have improved markedly over the past year, but the more important question is whether this has come at the expense of surrendering key American interests.  

Will Inboden:

Most over-reported story: America’s global image being improved by the election of President Obama. Sure, America’s “brand” got a big boost in opinion polling in Europe. But America’s improved image has not yet translated into a single significant foreign policy accomplishment. From European reluctance to resettle Guantanamo detainees, or contribute substantial new combat forces to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, or support robust sanctions on Iran, or even to award Chicago the Olympics, the gap between popularity ratings and policy achievements is huge — as is the gap between the voluminous media coverage on America’s image and the actual impact on important policies.

Under-appreciated story: The continuation of President Bush’s policies by the Obama administration. Yes, the Obama administration has engaged in rhetorical distancing and stylistic changes, and on some key areas has changed course from Bush administration policies (often for the worse, such as promotion of human rights and democracy, or promotion of free trade). But what hardly gets noticed in the media, and which the Obama administration rarely shows the grace to admit, in many areas they are continuing the same broad policies they inherited from the Bush Administration. From Iran (work with the P-5 plus 1 for toughened sanctions while holding out incentives to Tehran), to North Korea (combination of sanctions and negotiations within the 6-party talks framework), Afghanistan (increase troops for a counterinsurgency strategy as urged in the 2008 strategy review), Iraq (gradual troop drawdown while increasing training of Iraqi forces and encouraging political process), Africa (link development assistance to governance reforms, maintain generous funding for HIV/AIDS), and Asia (maintain cooperative relations with China and Japan while working to strengthen ties with India), many Obama administration policies look very similar to Bush administration policies. 

Phil Levy:

Most over-reported story: The replacement of the G-8 with the G-20. The Obama administration has heralded this as a major foreign policy achievement, reordering the world power structure to recognize the emergence of major developing economies such as Brazil, India, and China. If either the G-8 or the G-20 were very effective, the administration might deserve the big pat on the back it has given itself. They are not.

Under-appreciated story: The perilous state of the European Union. On the face of it, with the advance of the Lisbon Treaty and a new head of state and  a high representative for foreign affairs, the EU might seem stronger than ever. But its economic underpinnings are quavering. All along the periphery of Europe, from Greece to Spain to Ireland, countries are facing serious financial problems. Markets seem to be betting that one or all of these countries will default on their debts. It is not clear exactly what this would mean for the euro, but none of the possible interpretations are good.

Thomas Mahnken:

Most over-reported story: The Obama administration’s Afghanistan strategy review. The president has the responsibility to establish the objectives for which the nation uses force. He also has the right to review and reassess those objectives and the strategy to achieve them when he sees fit. But the way in which the Obama administration conducted its review — through seemingly interminable National Security Council meetings, immediately reported in great detail on the front pages of newspapers — hurt the credibility of the United States in Afghanistan and across the globe.

Under-appreciated story: The worsening of relations between the United States and its close allies and friends. The Obama administration came to office promising to “repair” America’s standing in the world. Nearly a year later, U.S. relations with a number of our allies (Great Britain, Canada, France, Poland, and the Czech Republic) and friends (Israel and India) are worse than they were when Obama took office. The reasons for this slide differ. In some cases, such as that of Japan, it has largely been due to developments out of the control of the U.S. government. In most other cases, however, the wounds have been self-inflicted and all too often unnecessary.  

Michael Singh:

Under-appreciated story: In contrast to the much-discussed impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, progress on the ground in the West Bank has gone relatively unnoticed. Under Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel has taken major steps to ease restrictions on movement in the West Bank, and under Salam Fayyad, the Palestinians have made significant strides on security reform and state-building. So important are these seemingly mundane steps that they led the IMF to forecast the first growth in West Bank standards of living since 2005. These developments are not enough for real progress toward peace — barriers to FDI in the West Bank, continued Iranian financial and military support of Hamas and Hezbollah, and the breakdown of peace talks must be addressed, among other things. Nevertheless, they represent an important opening that should be seized and built upon.

JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/Getty Images