Michael Gerson Mostly Right About Nobel Speech Posted by David Shorr

In his WaPo column, Michael Gerson grasped many of the important points of President Obama's speech in Oslo. The one problem -- shared by much of he coverage and commentary -- is the notion that this was somehow a new Barack Obama we've never seen before. In fact, there's a pretty good glimpse of this same person in his October 2002 speech against the Iraq War. I guess many of our pundit friends can't resist the he's-just-made-his-biggest-decision narrative. And for conservatives there's a political impulse to separate President Obama from real liberals by arguing that now that the president has been mugged by the realities of the office, he's become, well, more like them. To my ears, though, this sounded just like the same guy who campaigned last year.

Otherwise, I share Gerson's view that the articulation of the US role and perspective in the Nobel speech was noteworthy and interesting. For instance, I would endorse Gerson's selection of one passage of the speech as well as his interpretation:

In fact, Obama made a number of veiled jabs at American allies and partners who talk a good diplomatic game but do little to apply the pressure that makes diplomacy work. “We must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to change behavior – for if we want a lasting peace, then the words of the international community must mean something.”

I can think of better words than jab, but yes, this is a key dynamic at work in Obama's foreign policy and is associated with the distinct American perspective. An essential part of interdependence and living in a shared world is common norms and standards and shared responsibility for upholding them. The longstanding pattern is for the United States to take this responsibility most seriously, while other nations expect diplomacy somehow to produce solutions through some imagined power to elicit goodwill. This is not a sustainable pattern; the vision of a more peaceful and prosperous world will not be well served by any world leaders who only want to work with the President Obama they hoped for and expected, rather than the real one.

Obviously the speech also contained deeper philosophical points regarding war and peace (likewise conistent with candidate Obama's message), but that is the subject of another post.

UPDATE: Since Robert Kagan doubled-down today on the Obama-shifts-rightward theme, what I said about conservatives using Obama for validation goes doubly for Bob.

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