In a couple of days Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. In that capacity his primary concern is with governance of the United States but it is obvious that the human condition is of concern.
He is probably the first US president who has caught the imagination of the peoples of the world. I read an article which quoted a French official as saying that Americans had held an international election, or words to that effect. In his post election speech at Grant Park President-elect Obama spoke of "a planet in peril" as one of the three major challenges we face. Interesting thought from a man who is not the President of the planet. On the website of his transition team his words are headlined, "Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little better than the one we inhabit today." And in her prepared remarks during her confirmation hearings, his choice for Secretary of State said that ""America cannot solve the most pressing problems on our own, and the world cannot solve them without America."
How this challenge should be approached is what this blog is all about.
A systems level discussion on Organizational Leadership and World Peace written by:
© Darius A. Lecointe, Ph.D., J.D., M.A. Join in the discussion here or through dalecointe@gmail.com
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In our President's own Inaugural words, how he envisions this challenge being approached (from an online transcript):
"With old friends and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet.
We will not apologize for our way of life nor will we waver in its defense.
And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that, "Our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."
(APPLAUSE)
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.
We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.
And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.
To those...
(APPLAUSE)
To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
(APPLAUSE)
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.
And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."
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