By Donald Levine
Whatever else Barack Obama’s presidential campaign signifies, it represents a concerted effort to transcend partisan animosities for the sake of solving problems–both domestic problems like unemployment, housing, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and environment, and a foreign policy that made the nation less secure against terrorism. In addressing such issues, Senator Obama builds on a record of achieving consensus among normally divergent parties. In the primary contests, Ethiopian-, Eritrean-, and Somali-American citizens rallied in large numbers behind Obama’s candidacy. They find him a leader ready to address the nation’s pressing concerns and to restore a positive American presence in the global community. Without muting that enthusiasm, I want to suggest that something else which the senator represents can yield an even greater benefit for Ethiopia and the Horn. This point was broached by Teddy Fikre, in a piece on Obama in the most recent issue of The Ethiopian American: “The possibility of overcoming racial, ethnic, religious, and regional differences has implications in countries throughout the world.” His piece goes on to note that Obama’s approach encourages countries long stymied by historical grievances and unending conflicts to set aside their divisions and unite for the common good… Read more>>