President Obama and RP-US relations

The inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States made me recall the plight of African-Americans during my time as a student in Washington D.C. back in the late 50s. In my Georgetown Prep days, it was only during my last year that an African-American was accepted. This created problems when the young man became a member of the football team. Virginia schools would not play with our team until we said he was the son of a maharajah.  At Georgetown University, I invited a classmate to dinner but was refused entry in a restaurant in Washington. You cannot imagine my emotions (with tears welling in my eyes) when I watched the new President take his oath on TV.

It has been said for some time, and this was clearly confirmed at the inaugural the other night, that President Obama’s assumption of office presages the start of a new era. The ceremonial occasion not only drew unprecedented crowds to Washington, DC, but attracted great attention worldwide. To a large extent, of course, much of this interest was a reaction to the unpopularity of President George W. Bush. Indeed, the 43rd US President’s departure is a welcome relief in many quarters, not least across the Atlantic in Europe and in many Muslim countries. But to define Obama simply as the anti-Dubya would be a gross disservice to the 44th US President.

President Obama’s meteoric rise to power at the helm of the world’s last remaining superpower, given his personal background, is in and of itself, a cause for celebration for all who fervently believe in democracy, tolerance, inclusion, diversity, freedom and the promise that a free society can deliver. Filipinos of all persuasions, therefore, have welcomed President Obama’s arrival as the harbinger of a new and more hopeful dawn in international affairs and in bilateral RP-US relations. The Philippines and the United States, after all, share a long-standing traditional friendship and alliance.

What goes on in the head of the chief occupant of the White House should be of more than passing concern to us. When all the elation, pomp and pageantry of the inauguration are over and reality reasserts itself in Washington, DC, President Obama will have to hit the ground running. So will those in charge of managing our bilateral partnership over there and here at home. With the whole world clamoring for the new American President’s attention and maneuvering for advantage in the US capital, the Philippine Government, business community and even civil society have their work cut out for them. 

As a first step, we need to give the appropriate signals that the RP-US alliance remains vital for both of us, that our defense cooperation is critical for our common interests, that we are committed to the pursuit of shared interests across the whole range of our bilateral ties, from counter-terrorism to climate change, and that we remain a reliable business partner. We must also politely, but firmly, remind the new Washington team of certain special concerns, including the Filipino veteran’s issue. In doing so, we will have to ascertain the likely directions that President Obama and his foreign policy managers will take.

The American President’s inauguration speech is a good place to start. It would be wise to take him at his word. I do believe he will be serious about not sacrificing American ideals for security. He will continue to hit the terrorists hard. With the talk of “smart power” by his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, we can expect a broader American strategy that may try to use economic and educational measures to address the root causes of extremism and anti-Americanism, which was anathema to the Bush Administration. Given his personal involvement in civil rights and community activism, human rights will be important to him. But, unless they were simply for the purpose of electoral rhetoric, his protectionist statements will have to be very closely monitored.  Fortunately, we do have some key entry points with leading figures in the Obama Administration. The new President may still be an unknown quantity to us, but we know Hillary Clinton, and she knows the Philippines and Filipino American leaders. And so have many of her associates in the new State Department. However, I hasten to add that it is the justness of our cause that will make the difference, not just their familiarity with us or vice-versa.

Admiral Dennis Blair, the new intelligence czar, was formerly PACOM Chief and was very supportive of our defense cooperation. With Democrats in firm control on the Hill, we will have many friends running things there. Access to the chairs of the key House and Senate committees will be crucial in maintaining a working relationship with the US Congress, which has a far greater influence on foreign policy than probably any other legislative body in the world. As for the rest, it will be all a matter of shoe leather, elbow grease, ear-bending and lots and lots of talking, explaining and briefing in public and in private. Moreover, what we say softly in the corridors of Washington power the Americans will look to validate, through our public posture and what we actually do in the light of day. In modern diplomacy, media savvy is essential. Nowhere is this more true than in the Washington context, where many leaders switch on CNN and the internet news in the morning before they open their confidential briefs. We must be good at this game as well. 

The Philippines, in short, must position itself somewhere on President Obama’s radar over the next four years. It would be good to set aside any self-conceit or illusions about our importance to American interests as we go about doing so. But neither should we sell ourselves short. We must know exactly what we are prepared to bring to the RP-US partnership in order that President Obama will appreciate the value of our bilateral relationship. If we fail to do so, we will run the risk of losing every initiative for advancing the relationship, or worse, we will by default let other parties or events define us in the eyes of our partners on the other side of the Pacific.

Above all, there are three sensitive areas where we must avoid miscues and misunderstandings with the Americans: our enduring commitment to human rights promotion and protection; our determination to continue the fight against corruption, encompassing our efforts under the US Millennium Cooperation Challenge program; and our full support for a just and equitable peace process. The Philippines has important international partners in each of these three areas, and the US is prominent in all of them.