TIME Magazine
April 5 2009
Obama’s New Tone Meets Familiar Tough Challenges
By Michael Scherer / PRAGUE Sunday, Apr. 05, 2009
President Obama touched down in the Czech Republic at about 6:30
p.m. Saturday, two hours ahead of schedule, raising expectations that
he might opt for a night on the town. Indeed, as soon as the motorcade
arrived at his downtown hotel, agents began preparing for an imminent
departure to an undisclosed dinner location. But the first couple
chose to stay in, opting for an early night after four grueling days
on the road.
The early night, it turned out, was well advised, for at 4:30
a.m. press secretary Robert Gibbs was forced to wake the president
from his slumber. North Korea had launched a long-expected test
missile into the Sea of Japan, in violation of a U.N. Security Council
resolution. (See TIME’s photos of the Obama-Sarkozy meeting in
Strasbourg)
The White House had been preparing for the launch for days. Within 90
minutes, a statement condemning the actions was released. A few hours
later, Gibbs was briefing reporters, saying that Obama had already
spoken with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. James Cartwright,
the vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. U.N. Ambassador Susan
Rice and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had already been
dispatched to arrange an afternoon Security Council meeting to condemn
the action.
The timing of the launch, just hours before a major address on ridding
the world of nuclear weapons, was either fortuitous or terrible for
Obama, at once highlighting the issue of proliferation and showing
just how hard it will be to tame an unruly world. In his speech before
a crowd of about 20,000 at the Prague Castle compound Obama opted to
use the launch as a teaching moment. "Just this morning, we were
reminded again of why we need a new and more rigorous approach to
address this threat," he said. "This provocation underscores the need
for action ‘ not just this afternoon at the U.N. Security Council, but
in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons."
But the counterspin is also true. As Obama’s trip enters its final
turn, with a whirlwind tour of two Turkish metropolises, the president
has found his considerable success at setting a new tone for
international relations repeatedly frustrated by the harsh reality of
how hard the job is. Despite new agreements for international support
of the war effort in Afghanistan, victory against Al Qaeda remains a
distant, difficult, long-range goal, with the military onus remaining
on U.S. combat troops. Furthermore, a consensus of economic observers
advise that the economic crisis, though mollified by some
international confidence-building agreement, is unlikely to be solved
quickly by the actions taken by the G20. (See TIME’s photos of
"Obama’s Travels in Europe")
The complications will not end on Monday, when Obama travels to
Turkey, where he will have to dance delicately around an issue he has
spoken out about at home, the Armenian genocide, a tragedy that
continues to be officially denied by the Turkish government and which
Obama has promised to acknowledge as president.
The North Korean government, meanwhile, continues unabated in its
weapons development, existing in an oddly totalitarian isolation,
which produces its own reality. While the North Korean state media
reported that the missile had launched a satellite into space,
broadcasting "immortal revolutionary paeans" to the heavens, both
Korean and U.S. monitors said that the missile had failed to release
anything into orbit. "Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of
Japan/East Sea," reads an official report from the United States
Northern Command. "The remaining stages along with the payload itself
landed in the Pacific Ocean."
The same cannot be said for Obama’s own relaunch of American foreign
policy, which has been warmly received both by the European public and
many of the world’s leaders. The first stage is so far a success,
having smoothly left the landing pad, but there is a long way yet to
go.
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