And what do the presidents of Africa face?
THE RIDDLE | Timothy Kalyegira
...
President Obama to face East Asia’s rising powers
In January 1977, the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) broadcast a
made-for-television drama based on the semi-autobiographical book, Roots, by
the Black American author Alex Haley. The TV series Roots: The Saga of an
American Family was aired for eight consecutive nights on ABC and attracted a
record viewership of 71 per cent of the US television audience.
The harrowing images of the Black experience, the total helplessness of the
slaves in America as portrayed in Roots can only provide a poignant backdrop to
the historic events of this week surrounding the election of Barack Obama as
the 44th and the first Black US President.
However, tributes and a shared moment of pride aside, we cannot entirely forget
about the hard realities that await President Obama.
If there is something in 2008 I totally failed to understand, it was how much
the world media focused on the American election and ignored the great
developments taking place in East Asia.
All year, we were treated to endless TV, Internet, and newspaper headlines like
“America decides”, “US election ‘08”, clearly showing how out of touch the
world media is with what is going on.
Most of the world does not seem to realise that the days of America as the
world’s undisputed superpower are rapidly coming to an end and we had better
start coming to terms with East Asia as the next centre of world power.
Had I not attended the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, I would, like most
people, have been focusing on the outcome of the American election.
But on Thursday August 7 as I drove through the streets of Beijing, saw the
endless rows of ultra-modern buildings, bridges, and highways, I immediately
realised that what I was seeing was the next world superpower that would rise
and displace America.
Speaking at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on October 28, Obama admitted to
the crowd the truth about the emerging giant China: “Their ports, their trains,
their airport systems are vastly superior to ours,” an acknowledgement by even
the always optimistic Obama that China is fast catching up with and threatening
to overtake America.
Writing at the end of the Olympics, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
said on August 27: “As I sat in my seat at the Bird’s Nest [Olympic stadium]… I
couldn’t help but reflect on how China and America have spent the last seven
years: China has been preparing for the Olympics… They’ve been building better
stadiums, subways, airports, roads and parks… Then ask yourself: Who is living
in the Third World country?...
The rich parts of China, the modern parts of Beijing or Shanghai or Dalian, are
now more state of the art than rich America. The buildings are architecturally
more interesting, the wireless networks more sophisticated, the roads and
trains more efficient and nicer.”
The rise of China coming at the same time as America’s decline is a story in
2008 we must not lose sight of. It is much bigger than Obama’s historic win.
As we speak today, China has over 2,000 newspapers, 10,000 magazines, 100
million bloggers, 300 million Internet users, and 500 million mobile phone
subscribers.
And while America is a bankrupt country, South Korea has 227 billion dollars in
foreign currency reserves, Taiwan has $281 billion, Japan one trillion, and
China $1.9 trillion and 14 of the world’s 20 best-selling newspapers are either
in South Korea, China, or Japan.
The America that Obama is going to lead is, unfortunately, a nation on the
decline. China, not America, is now the country that determines what takes
place on the world stage, as reported by London’s Economist magazine on October
30: “A Chinese newspaper said America must give up its control over the IMF in
return for China’s helping out in the [world economic] crisis.”
That is the new reality today: America has no money and relies on China to keep
the economy going. Knowing the way the American media thinks, we are going to
see endless newspaper and magazine stories on the new First Lady, Michelle
Obama and her fashion taste, how she plans to decorate the White House, there
will be photo galleries of the Obama’s two daughters.
Obama is now rapidly becoming the world’s biggest celebrity. He will be adored
wherever he goes. But unknown to most of the world, Obama and his
administration will be holding onto hollow power.
There is a hand writing a few inscriptions on the wall. They read: “Behold, the
Times of the Gentiles are here.”
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
__________________________________________________________________
Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. Go to Yahoo!
Answers and share what you know at http://ca.answers.yahoo.com_______________________________________________
Ugandanet mailing list
[email protected]
http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet
% UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
---------------------------------------
