The New Rules: For U.S. and World, Obama Spells Relief, not Cure

As somebody who voted for President Barack Obama, I am surprised to find myself believing that he is slated to be -- and more so, should be -- a one-term president, a possibility that Obama himself has already broached publicly. It's not any one thing he has or hasn't done that has led me to this admittedly premature conclusion. Rather, it's a growing realization that everything Obama brings to the table in terms of both deeds and vision suggests that history will judge him to be a transitional figure. He is a much-needed leveling-off from Bush-Cheney's nosebleed-inducing foreign policy trajectory, no doubt. But he is not "the One," in whom so much hope was invested for the revitalization of this clearly disoriented superpower.

That plan posited a liberal Ronald Reagan -- a true game-changer. The reality has instead yielded a more bureaucratically adept version of Jimmy Carter -- less off-putting, but still alienating. Despite his obvious eloquence and intelligence, Barack Obama has inspired too little hope and far too much fear among the American people, for a number of reasons. His policies, both foreign and domestic, add up to the leadership equivalent of Valium -- reducing angst on the surface while doing nothing to address the deeper underlying dynamics. ...