Arrogance Abroad

Remember back in 2008 when candidate Obama said that he would meet with hostile foreign leaders without precondition? At the time he complained about the policy of treating a visit by the American president as an honor.

Now that he is president, Obama is doing the same thing but with a twist. It isn't that an official visit is an honor, it's that a visit from President Obama is an honor. He and his staff have bought into the rock star persona. This has affected his foreign policy in several ways. The most recent was his pitch to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the 2016 Olympics in Chicago. Where other cities made their case on behalf of their people (especially Rio which pointed out that the entire South American continent had never hosted an Olympics), the Obamas made a personal appeal. Their message was that this was the IOC's chance to do something for the Obamas personally. The President wanted to wrap up his second term by opening the Olympic games. The First Lady just wanted to see the games held in her home town. A sidenote to their appearance was the reminder that they are more important than the IOC - one member complained that Obama's security was so tight that he could not cross his hotel lobby.

Obama's speech to the UN was similar. He told them to forget past US actions and look at the last nine months. He didn't ask them to overlook the last eight years, he asked them to ignore the last 64 years and every president since Truman.

His outreach to hostile countries has also followed these lines. He expects countries to ignore years or decades of complaints and all geopolitical issues and be our friend. Why? Because the great Obama wants it.

At the same time he is dismissive of our allies. He deliberately concealed information about the second Iranian reactor at the Security Council meeting because he wanted a resolution calling for total nuclear disarmament. That news would have spoiled his moment. Both the French and English knew about the reactor and were upset. Obama ignored Gordon Brown's request for a private meeting, probably because it was going to be about the reactor. The press heard about the snub and both countries had to issue press releases saying that we are still friends.

It's hard to know why Obama canceled the missile defense system in Poland. It may have been to mollify the Russians who he has been courting. Regardless, the Poles were not warned in advance and it was announced on the 70th anniversary of a Russian invasion of Poland.

The biggest beneficiary of the canceled missile defense, Iran, showed its gratitude by testing the sorts of missiles that the system was supposed to stop.

Then there was Obama's attempt to restart the Arab/Israeli peace process. He told the Israeli prime minister that Israeli settlements are the only roadblock and all construction in all settlements must be stopped at once. Only after that was done would he talk about nightly missile attacks.

In instance after instance, Obama has ignored history and assumed that he could accomplish feats that eluded others. He cozies up to dictators and ignores friends. He assumes that a childhood in Indonesia and some trips in his 20s gives him insights into the world that elude everyone else. The result of his attitude will be decreased American influence. The first part of that has already happened. The G20 has announced that will will begin using a blended currency standard instead of the dollar as the international standard.