I didn’t really like the inauguration of the new US president Barak Obama. Nor did I like the speech he delivered as he turned all the issues he addressed on their head. He pledged that everything will undergo drastic change. In our part of the world, this would be tantamount to a military coup. For in the third world massive change in the status quo comes only after a military coup. But since the US is backward and unable to orchestrate a coup, it has charged Obama with the task of creating this radical change in his country’s policies.
As a citizen of a state that is unfamiliar with the stunning change that Obama stands for, I am unwilling to accept the issues he outlined in his speech. In Egypt a minister is appointed perpetually and is not replaced every four years as a result of presidential elections. We are even proud to have ministers in power for 10, 20 or 25 years. There are even some Egyptian politicians who were members of the former Socialist Union and the Liberation Authority before that. Thus, from one generation to another both our policies and our leaders remain unchanged, except in case of a force majeure, by which I mean Divine intervention before which we are powerless. With Obama it was a different matter. Regarding Iraq, he reiterated that his policy is intended to return the country to its people. As for Afghanistan, Obama did not proclaim that he will accomplish a sweeping victory over Al-Qaeda but said he will endeavor to establish peace there. When he spoke of Islam, it sounded to me as if he were talking about another religion, not the one that preaches violence, terror or bloodshed which is the only one the former US administration knew about. Affirming the principle of mutual respect, Obama has extended his hand in peace to all those striving for it. In my opinion, one of the most crucial elements of Obama’s stunning coup is the philosophy by which the US foreign policy is supposed to abide. It is designed to promote freedom all over the world, even in the remotest villages in Asia and in Africa. It is understood that the US will no longer use her military power to invade other countries under the pretext of imposing democracy. He also pointed out that the US should be a role model through its respect for human rights and espousing the principles of freedom and democracy. The following day he suspended Guantanamo Bay’s military trials. Even the style of Obama’s speech, with its highly eloquent and forceful imagery evoked the orations of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King. Indeed, the rhetoric employed by Obama ran counter to the linguistic and intellectual stutter prevalent under Bush’s reign. His address sounded even more eloquent because he wasn’t it reading it out, but reciting it. The emotive words flowed spontaneously and smoothly, underscoring the fact that oratory is still an essential skill for political leaders worldwide, not only in the Arab world. You may be surprised to know that Obama’s speech writer is only 24 years old. When asked the heavy task with which he was entrusted during the election campaign, he said he had the easiest job in the world because he used the very same language and style that Obama dictated to him; all he had to do was put it on paper. The US is indeed witnessing a revolution that will usher in an era of non-creative chaos, for which the entire world will pay as it did during Bush’s creative chaos period.
The American people, whose happiness with this coup is incomprehensible to me, has shown us how to orchestrate a coup without resorting to military means. They have resorted to fair elections (God forbid!) which contradicts our Egyptian political tradition deeply rooted in the belief that fair elections pose a threat to the security, stability and continuity of our homeland where nothing ever changes.
Mohamed Salmawyis President of the Arab Writers’ Union and Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram Hebdo.
