POLITICS - Obama in UK

"The world is waiting to love America again" Editorial, The Observer UK

Barack Obama will arrive in Europe this week to a tumultuous reception. Europe - and the rest of the world - has watched in awe the amazing political theatre that has surrounded his bid to be America's first black President. Should he win in November Obama's priorities will be domestic ones but he also has a formidable opportunity to help recast America's relationship with the world. It is this relationship which took such a battering during the Bush presidency as anti-Americanism took root across the globe (though not, it has to be said, in large parts of Africa where the current American President did much of his best foreign work). The euphoria surrounding his presidential bid offers him a brilliant opportunity to repurpose the relationship between America and the world. And all of us would benefit.

Obama's visit will be brief. He is not scheduled to spend even a night in Britain and, one suspects, the Middle East stage of his trip will provoke greater interest in America. Yet as he flies in he can start the process of rebuilding the American brand, a brand left in tatters from a series of miscalculations - a bullying approach to international diplomacy, the shirking of environmental responsibility, the horrors of Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and the CIA's secret rendition program chief among these.

If Bush seems to represent one stereotype of America (brash, uncaring), so Obama has come to define another. He is young - he turns 47 next month. He is an embodiment of racial diversity. The Illinois senator has that most desirable of political gifts: he makes his audience feel better about themselves.

An Obama presidency would certainly make many nations feel better about American leadership. He has expressed a willingness to listen more to allies and talk more to potential foes. He has taken domestic political fire for saying he would open a dialogue with Tehran. But he has also shown a reflex to make hawkish statements. His mixture of dialogue and firmness would make a refreshing change.

On Iraq, Obama has promised to bring the troops home sooner rather than later. In office, skeptics say, practical military considerations may overcome his instincts. The advice he is receiving on foreign affairs comes from notably hawkish Democrats. Still, it is safe to imagine, Obama will not deepen American involvement in Iraq, and his utterances so far at least suggest a refreshing lack of dogmatism. Elsewhere Obama's role could be hugely beneficial. As the son of a Kenyan, his voice will carry enormous weight in Africa in the battle against despotism and for responsible, transparent government. On climate change he could provide the leadership that the world sorely lacks and which Bush singularly failed to deliver.

And what of Britain? With Obama's election, the notion of a political 'special relationship' will fade. It has not been in our interest to maintain the pretense that America regards us as anything other than simply another partner in Europe. Free of the ideological baggage of past generations, Obama is likely to pursue a more honest relationship.

Of course, expectations have risen so high there are bound to be disappointments should Obama win the November election. Already there are mutterings on both sides of the Atlantic about his tacks from left to center, real or imagined. For now, though, we should welcome candidate Obama and celebrate his emergence as such a dynamic force. Change is the watchword of his candidacy. And the change in attitude to politics he has inspired, here and in America, has been astonishing.