People are by nature followers rather than leaders. In fact, true leaders are an extremely scarce commodity. We, ordinary human beings, tend to sit and see what happens around us. Some may even form an opinion about such happenings. But by and large we just sit, see and wait - that is until a leader with all the ingredients that make a true leader, comes along and get us moving.
You see this phenomena all over the world. It also applies to nations and groups of nations. If you for instance look at Europe it is difficult to find a single politician of which you would be able to identify as a true leader and capable of getting Europe on the move.
In regard to the US, who has for very long as been accepted as the world leader, it has also experienced a drought over the past 7 years. With the occurrence of 9/11 it had all the opportunity in the world to unite humanity behind it and to alter the course of history. Instead the criminal aspects of the personalities of George W Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld came to the fore and, instead of leading the world, it treated the laws that govern our co-existence with contempt and started bullying us.
The Washington Post has published an article that highlights this aspect of international relations. In this article Moiéses Naim says that the world wants America back. The world yearns for America to come back and take up its role in international affairs.
Under George W Bush the solidarity between America and the rest of the world – brought on by 9/11 – was replaced by a huge escalation in anti-Americanism. With the presidential term of Bush coming to an end and the prospect of a new, benevolent leadership stepping forward, there is a lot of anticipation.
“Of course, the America that the world wants back is not the one that preemptively invades potential enemies, bullies allies or disdains international law. The demand is for an America that rallies other nations prone to sitting on the fence while international crises are boiling out of control; for a superpower that comes up with innovative initiatives to tackle the great challenges of the day, such as climate change, nuclear proliferation and violent Islamist fundamentalism. The demand is for an America that enforces the rules that facilitate international commerce and works effectively to stabilize an accident-prone global economy. Naturally, the world also wants a superpower willing to foot the bill with a largess that no other nation can match.”
Unfortunately and for the rest of this year, we sit with George Bush as if he is the Eleventh Plague of Egypt and we’re Egypt. By necessity the world will have to wait another year and pray that this US government does not do anything stupid.
J.C.Grobler.
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