Barack Obama and expectations from around the world

Barack – The Man or Politician!

At the start of the Democratic primaries before the last presidential elections in the US, most politicians thought that it was going to be business as usual. This meant that Barack Obama was merely there to participate. This assumption would put many off guard and allow the future president to refine his strategy that would eventually enable him to get to the pinnacle. Politicians had ignored two things at the start including the people (voters) who elect people into office and nature which continues to unfold with no one knowing what would happen to him/her or around the world the next second. As nature would prove it, Barack had emerged during a time when nature was ushering in the unimaginable change that had cost the lives of many over several centuries.

In fact as Barack himself put it, it was time for change and “change you can believe in”. Throughout the campaigns it was apparent that Barack’s success was triggered by his emergence in the eyes of many as a man rather than a politician. Even though at some point, the man was forced to become a politician, it may be looked upon as a necessity in order to achieve a goal. Therefore, as time went on his popularity could only continue to grow. Skeptics changed their positions and even non believers became believers. Barack’s election into office sparked wild scenes of celebrations around the world. To many, it seemed a messiah had come to rid the world of its problems. People celebrated irrespective of race, religion, age and other aspects usually employed to generate problems in society. The inauguration followed and tenure started successfully despite security concerns that had been lingering and would continue to forever. Nature was simply demonstrating that we have little or no control on what is going to happen in future.

Expectations from around the world

The election of Barack Obama as the 44^th President of the US was greeted warmly and welcomed by many at home and abroad. There is time for celebration and therefore there also has to be time for action especially because those who celebrated after victory have expectations that they hope will be met after victory. After the inauguration, time for action had therefore come during which promises made had to be kept and innovative approaches put forward to find solutions to the multitude of problems facing mankind.

The expectations from home and abroad are numerous and varied. Barack Obama came to power at the time of a global financial crisis. The country that is hardest hit by this crisis is the US where many institutions have failed. The expectations from within this country are very high as many look up to the new President in order to continue to have jobs, shelter or just food. It is indeed a difficult moment and therefore proper action is required. Barack Obama-the man has demonstrated during his first months in office that he is human with weaknesses but more importantly has shown that he can keep promises and intends to always take the right action. Unfortunately, there is so much to do at home that there is a risk history may judge him as having been able to do nothing. In addition to problems associated with the financial crises, the US had existing problems dealing with terrorism, creating friends around the world, a “sick” health care system, crumbling infrastructure and continuous decline in moral values nationwide. There can be no quick fix to these issues and Barack may fail to meet the expectations of his fellow countrymen especially those who may not understand the immensity of the issues at hand. In addition, there is an African-American portion of the US Society that jubilated after the election because they see it as a time when they would partake in the use of power and niceties associated with it. This portion of the population may expect favours or ease in life instead of working hard and provided their support to help in fixing their nation.

In other parts of the world, the least expectations may be in Europe. There, while some immigrants may expect favourable and friendly changes to foreigners from the US, states are simply expecting a new dawn in relations. States expect renewal of friendship and cooperation. In association to Europe in such understandable expectations are Australia and Canada. On the contrary, in South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, expectations are focused on the elimination of poverty and resolution of conflicts. People of these areas identify themselves with Barack as one of them. They therefore expect that unfriendly US policies towards some nations like Cuba, Venezuela and Iran would suddenly be transformed. Others expect an instant resolution to crises in the Middle East, the crisis in Darfur (Sudan), the Democratic Republic of Congo and more. After Barack’s tenure many people in these areas would judge him based on how much change he would have brought to these issues, some of which have been going on for several decades. Are these expectations realistic? I would say no because Barack’s success was not achieved because he waited for someone or nation to take care of his problems. His election brought new hope of a life free from poverty and conflict to many developing nations. Instead of waiting for him to bring all the solutions, people of these areas should learn from him in order to start solving their problems. For, example, in the last year few years while working tirelessly to run for President, Barack had put in time to prepare for the future. He spent time to think and write the Audacity of Hope and Dreams from my Father that together with his job enabled him to make over two million dollars last year. People abroad should therefore look at ways to emulate his hard work and start solving their problems. Certainly, because he is the man and not the politician, he would not hesitate to help or support whenever he can.