From WPR’s editorial on President-elect Barack Obama:
Theworld has an ongoing love-hate relationship with America, born often ofthe higher expectations and disappointed hopes that it holds for theworld’s most enduring democracy. The United States also has swornenemies and dangerous rivals. Much has been made of the symbolic impactMr. Obama’s presidency will have on global opinion. But more than hisimage, it will be his leadership that will define the United States’foreign relations for years to come. Just as America still needs theworld, the world still needs America. Its national genius forinnovation and historic willingness to advance fearlessly into theunknown, combined with its still unrivaled might, uniquely qualify itto lead the way and serve as a backstop in an age of uncertainty.
Mr.Obama’s lack of experience on the national and international stagerepresents to a certain degree an unknown variable. But anyone watchingthe campaign he has waged over the past two years has reason to beoptimistic about the kind of leadership he will deliver. With a steadyand calm temperament, a keen and dynamic intellect, an easy smile and awisdom and authority that defy his years, Mr. Obama has made his caseby appealing to the best and loftiest of what America represents,without stoking the divisions and resentments that threaten thecohesion of our national fabric. It’s a fabric that must hold, becauseonly an America united of purpose can mobilize the effort, both at homeand abroad, needed to face today’s challenges.
More at the link.