Mr Obama is no more the heartthrob of the world!

Many countries are already miffed by the brazen selfishness of the Obama administration, including India. This week Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid an official state visit to the ‘White House’ and found Mr Obama as a self-absorbed individual. Notwithstanding the nice talk in public view, Gordon Brown appeared frustrated with Obama-talk. President Barack Obama is extremely fond of talking and therefore gives very little time to the visiting guest to respond to the questions put by the media. But more importantly, it is the substance of the one-sided discussions that has started to alarm the governments around the world.

Mr Obama is convinced that he is personally so charming that he can persuade the world to his way of thinking. The problem is that his policies are backward-looking. Barack Obama is the last President to be a part of the wider-world. He is unwilling to engage the world leaders; instead he is looking for an obedient following! Contrary to the high expectations from his all-star ‘State Department’, Obama himself is delusional. He might be able to improve relations with Russia to achieve his short-term Middle-East goals. Other than that, he might have serious trouble with China and Europe. He might even engage with South America!

This President seems to have learnt nothing from Bill Clinton’s first term in the office or even George W Bush’s 8 year presidency. He is an inward-looking American President in the footsteps of Calvin Coolidge or Herbert Hoover. Mr Obama is looking for domestic demand where none exists. The only way the United States is going to come out of this contraction is by pursuing aggressive exports driven policy. This means more open trade with all trading countries. So far the evidence is to the contrary. He is unlikely to confront his left-wing of the party and by the time he understands that it might be too late. Let us see what happens at the G-20 summit!