Obama's Development

What might the son of a Kenyan goat-herder-turned-global-ambassador do for creating Sustainable Development? The globally-minded new President enters office when many Americans are understandably more concerned with their own homes and jobs than with poverty overseas. During the campaign, Obama promised to double spending on aid. Given the economic downturn, this will be politically difficult, especially when coupled with other factors including two international wars that could easily command prior attention and funding. Relatively low energy costs could make it harder to fight for clean and green non-carbon-based solutions. Congress could block Obama's initiatives on international treaties where they threaten powerful US interests. Certainly, how the new administration treats the World Bank, the IMF and US-AID is critical. Will these US-dominated institutions remain neo-liberal or will the new change in the White House bring new ideas for new times?

Development - especially any degree of sustainable development -does not simply depend upon big institutions and international policy, significant though they may be. It is also affected by how people perceive of themselves and each other, and by what kinds of initiatives 'regular' people take both in the States and in other countries. The time is ripe for innovation, and Obama shows a clear preference for innovative, creative, people-centered and sustainable projects and, hopefully, also programmes. Obama's clear global perspective is not only refreshing, it reframes what it means for Americans to be Americans; and when any one country re-conceptualizes itself, this affords opportunities for all countries to reconsider what role to play. I suspect Obama will create space for a type of global citizenry that has never been seen on a massive scale before. His strong, persistent encouragement of responsibility speaks not only to Americans but to the world; our ability to create and sustain sustainable development does not only rest in the hands of government leadership. As the ability for public opinion to influence decision-making at the Bali conference on the Kyoto agreement shows, global citizenry is slowly finding its voice. Never before will such responsibility count for so much.