Godfrey Hodgson on Obama’s first 100 days in office:
Only gradually has it emerged that while Obama may understand the world’s anger at the Bush administration’s hubris and rudeness, his own foreign policy in many ways is set to continue the established themes of American policy. He might be ready to draw down US forces in Iraq; but only to send more to Afghanistan. He might have appointed excellent regional special envoys - Richard Holbrooke, George Mitchell, Dennis Ross; but with no expectation of dramatic progress in their areas of responsibility.
But is this really true? Certianly, the facts regarding the limits of the changes that Obama has made to US foreign policy in many ways support Hodgson’s claim. But, and I don’t think this is just HOPEful thinking, there’s also subtle strategy here. The shifts in tenor and tone that Obama has implimented may generate more possibilities for more radical shifts in policy going forward. Such changes, moreover, may function domestically as well as internationally: if his willingness to talk for instance wins concessions and increased co-operation from international actors that are helpful both in terms of international stability and US national security, this may create a political climate within the US in which it is possible to step even further away from the unilateral-imperial mode of US foreign policy.
