Упрощенная HTML-версия
Author : A. Orlov
Director, Institute for International Studies, Moscow Institute (University) of International Relations,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Professor, Department of Diplomacy
THIS ARTICLE is a logical continuation of my previous essay,
"Barack Obama: Preliminary Results of Presidency". Today, we can
say that he has missed his chance to be remembered as a peacemaker
and a realistically minded president who knew how to defuse interna-
tional tension rather than fan it to worldwide dimensions. Indeed, he
did all he could to leave behind a wasteland of American-Russian re-
lations and not the slightest hope of positive changes any time soon.
His last press conference as the president of the United States with
less than two days in office, however, did not exclude that in future
we might hear from him more balanced and reasonable statements.
The new and old presidents may feel sympathy to each other, or be
neutral or even have negative feelings. In some cases, rejection was hardly controlled of which
the Truman/Eisenhower case can serve as a pertinent example.
Today, it is hard to say whether the exchange between the 33rd and 34th presidents took place
or not. Its description, however, and the scoffing are very illustrative and symptomatic. At that
time, the inauguration and transfer of power from the old to the new administration were prac-
tically perfect.
Trump was grossly underestimated by the Clinton team: his faults were too numerous and too
obvious. Experienced political technologists expected an easy victory in the anti-Trump game:
the cocksure Republican would be effectively pushed aside to end the chess game in a political
checkmate.
The results sent the Democratic headquarters into a shock: the guaranteed victory escaped from
under the nose of Hillary Clinton leaving behind a trail of failed hopes. What happened could
not have happen by definition: it was the world turned upside down.
In the last months of Obama's presidency, the amount of hatred or even dirt thrown at Moscow
was amazing. One found it hard to believe that this was possible. Moscow refrained from an-
swering in kind; it preserved its dignity and kept the doors open for better relations some time
in future.
This fact, and several others, means that Obama was a weak president who never fulfilled many
of his election promises, both at home and on the international stage, even though some of
them were quite reasonable.
Having assumed power, Donald Trump immediately cancelled a great number of Obama's pro-
grams and initiatives designed to affirm his outstanding role as the 44th president of the United
States.
Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
Barack Obama's Legacy