WARSAW — For eight years, U.S. President George W. Bush has managed to incarnate and reinforce all the prejudices and negative stereotypes the world has of the United States. He has antagonized the world more than any other American president before him, seriously damaging America's "soft" power by inefficient and excessive use of its "hard" power.
Reconciling the U.S. with itself and the world should thus be the twin priorities for America's next president. If there is one candidate who can accomplish this, who can contribute, in a split second, to restoring America's international reputation, it is Barack Obama.
Exceptional periods sometimes create exceptional leaders. Without the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte would have remained a gifted and frustrated junior military officer. Likewise, the current period in America and its relations with the world have been truly exceptional, requiring a leader who can fundamentally challenge a global majority's view that America has become arrogant, impotent and selfish.