Obama knows no boundaries

LONDON — In his debut on the international stage, President Obama presented himself as the leader of an America that can no longer go it alone, abiding by the protocol of a global new deal.

It was a performance that ranged from mediating behind closed doors — he intervened in a spat between the French and Chinese presidents — to a news conference in which he reached deep into history, showed contrition for the failings of Wall Street and forecast a road the world could no longer travel.

Gone are the days, from Pax Britannica to Pax Americana, when the United States and Britain made the rules that others followed.

"If there's just (Franklin) Roosevelt and (Winston) Churchill sitting in a room with a brandy, that's an easier negotiation. But that's not the world we live in, and it shouldn't be the world that we live in," said Obama, addressing the international media in an hourlong meeting during which he called on reporters from India and China.

Modest results

After more than 11 hours of meetings, Obama emerged Thursday from his first summit with a handful of modest concrete commitments. He did not get much of what U.S. officials had sought, notably failing to persuade other countries to commit to more stimulus spending.

But he, along with the other world leaders, did get a more forceful and detailed blueprint for a global recovery than a similar gathering 86 years ago, when an earlier generation failed to take collective action to counter the Great Depression.

"By being willing to accommodate European leaders on the need for better regulation of financial markets and emerging-market leaders on their desire to have less protectionism," said Eswar Prasad, a former China division chief at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Obama "has certainly guided the G-20 leaders to a positive outcome."

"All in all, not a bad day's work," Prasad added.

Obama's own assessment? "Well, I think I did OK," he said, when asked to rate his performance.

In a debut diplomatic tour that has been scrutinized for every blemish, Obama thus far has gotten some not-so-good reviews — several European media outlets complained he seemed aloof — to some raves; President Nicolas Sarkozy of France called him "very helpful."

For the news conference, Obama took pains to project a cheerful, humble image to a world still alternately enraged and befuddled by a financial crisis that originated with U.S. subprime loans.

He called on reporters from other countries — "foreign" he said, before adding with a grin that they were foreign only to him. He bantered, dispensing with his propensity to lecture.

Answering a question from a reporter from China, Obama acknowledged he had to care most about how U.S. workers and companies are affected by globalization, while still making the argument for why globalization is in America's best interest.

"Look, I'm the president of the United States; I'm not the president of China," Obama said.

Then, he added: "It is also my responsibility to lead America into recognizing that its interests, its fate, is tied up with the larger world."

Obama said that if the nation neglected or abandoned poor countries, "not only are we depriving ourselves of potential opportunities for markets and economic growth, but ultimately that despair may turn to violence that turns on us."

In a rare show of emotion from the international media, many in the room stood up and cheered after Obama was done.