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From Helene Cooper, the New York Times:
President Hu Jintao of China will arrive in Cannes, France, this
week pondering a plea from Europe for tens of billions of dollars
to help the continent get out of its debt crisis. And President
Obama will arrive with a smile, some hearty handshakes, and his
own plea: that Greece get its act together and that Europe fix
its economic ills, which he has called one of the biggest drags
on the United States own ailing economy.
The two contrasting appearances at the Group of 20 economic meeting
are a stark example of waning American influence. Without the
spare cash that Mr. Hu has at his disposal and the power
that can come with it Mr. Obama has struggled to cajole
his own allies into taking the steps he believes are necessary
to lift the global economy.
Yet the relative decline of the United States as an international
force also comes with a silver lining. For decades, the United
States has been the global rescuer of last resort. It is a role
that has brought significant costs, both financial and human.
The last few months may well end up being an inflection point,
in which the United States, though easily still the worlds
leading power, no longer has quite the responsibility or the burden
it once did. The pattern has been evident in the Arab Spring,
with the American military playing mostly a supporting role in
Libya, and now in the European financial crisis, with Asian money
coming to aid the Europeans.
Why would the United States want to have influence over
a train wreck? said George Friedman, the chief executive
of Stratfor, a geopolitical risk analysis company. If the
Chinese want to provide $150 billion bailing out European banks,
more power to them. . . .
Arriving in Cannes on Thursday, Mr. Obama will be trying to balance
providing that leadership while not taking on any of the additional
burden particularly financial that such leadership
often requires. . . .
But for all the acceptance that the United States will no longer
be the worlds policeman and financier, the emerging strategy
carries risks.
China, for instance, is bound to try to extract concessions from
Europe for any aid, and the United States could end up losing
Europe as an ally in pressuring China to take important economic
steps of its own, like allowing its currency to float on the open
market, which both European and American policy makers want.
And while the political appetite for myriad military adventures
overseas might be on the wane in Washington, the American military
remains the worlds most formidable, and the most likely
to be called on to back American allies like Israel, Japan and
South Korea. (photo: Getty)