Around The World In Post-Election Days

The media has already covered how Obama's election has been met with enthusiasm from most countries. It might be tedious to cover all of them, so here's a really great link to a BBC website with correspondents briefly summarizing the expectations from Obama, from different parts of the world. 

I have been watching two countries in particular - Russia for the recent developments in what could signal the start of an arms race there, and India for my own obvious personal reasons. I'll start with Moscow, which seems to have been caught a little off-guard - their cynicism around the possibility of Obama winning was so strong, they went ahead with plans to deploy missiles near the Baltic. 

The attitude in much of Russia was that democracy in America for the last 24 years has been a bit of a joke, with either a Bush or a Clinton in the White House, or issues like abortion dominating elections, as opposed to foreign policy or economics. But now the nuclear move is being considered rash among ordinary Russians who fear that an Obama presidency, with such strong support from other nations might put their country on the defensive. 

An interesting article in The Hindu, written by Siddharth Varadarajan, provided a very comprehensive analysis of what an Obama presidency could mean for New Delhi, particularly with regard to the nuclear deal. In a nutshell, the expectations from South Block are that Obama will do nothing to alienate India, and from what I heard the President-elect say in his interview with Wolf Blitzer last Friday, India doesn't have much to worry about with regard to foreign policy. As part of his overall strategy for refocusing efforts on the war in Afghanistan, Obama told Blitzer it was important for the US to reengage India and Pakistan in talks about Kashmir, which would then enable Pakistan, India and the US to direct their energies towards the Afghan border and the problems there.

Spoken in one breath like that, Obama's plan might have sounded naive, particularly for those of us who have had to live that history for much of our lives in that part of the world, but the underlying philsophy seemed to reflect Bill Clinton's initiatives for stability in the region. I suspect that the encouragement received by the Zardari government from India will be seen by the US as an opening to resume the process.

Of course, fears over suspension of outsourcing initiatives also cloud India's optimism around Obama, who has promised to "end tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas." But if call centers do shut down in the country sooner rather than later, it might be a blessing in disguise for the country, whose national debt has grown at an alarming rate, fuelled by a new generation of Indians who have indulged in credit card shopping sprees. The sooner we remember the importance of saving (so inherent to our parents' generation), and inculcate in ourselves the philosophy of paying off our bills as soon as we get them, the better.

The entire election was also a testament to the phenomenal PR machine this country has. It is so powerful that school students in India, who were watching the election on TV were able to recognize Joe Biden, and even knew the names of Obama's wife and children. Sadly though, not one of the kids interviewed at an election watch party in the US consulate in Chennai was able to name India's vice-president. 

I am ashamed to admit it, but even I had trouble - I thought his name was Hamid Asrani, not Ansari, until I googled him.