Day 58: REMEMBER, REMEMBER

(The Fifth of November)



Today the Brit's celebrate Guy Fawkes Night. If you're American and have heard of Guy Fawkes Night then you probably saw the movie V For Vendetta. Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night is a day when the British set off a bunch of fireworks to commemorate how Guy Fawkes almost blew up London's Parliament building, but was captured before he could set off the explosion.*

But on this particular November 5th the British were celebrating more than just the traditional holiday. They also celebrated the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States.
The international community looks at Obama as a godsend. As an American living in Europe, I've always had this nagging feeling that anti-Americanism is all around, and just because I speak with an American accent Europeans are going to look down to me as an arrogant cowboy.*

Now that feeling has dissipated. Not completely, but with the pull of a level (several million) the world's perspective on the U.S. has already experienced a drastic change.

Last summer a poll for the BBC World Service, conducted in 22 countries, indicated that people preferred Barack Obama to John McCain by four to one. Almost half said that if Senator Obama were elected, it would change their view of the United States completely

There's no denying the rest of the world is rejoicing over Obama's victory.

For two reasons:

a) He's not Bush. The international community has loathed Bush for the last eight years. John McCain definitely couldn't escape Bush's shadow abroad.

b) Obama has shown a willingness to talk with anybody when it comes to international affairs. In a globalizing world, that's exactly what the international community wants to hear. If he's willing to negotiate for peace, instead of using force to bring change, then it will greatly decreases the chance of another Iraq war - in say, Iran or North Korea. The Iraq war did more damage to America's image abroad than, well anything, in a long time. Obama's multilateral aims (with the help of foreign policy guru Joe Biden) makes it cool to be an American again in international eyes. For now...

The election was not called in Europe until at least 3 a.m. But my flat was certainly not the only one that pulled an all-nighter to watch the historic outcome. By dawn it was clear. England now had one more reason to remember, remember - the fifth of November.


(And now for something slightly different...)

Also as interesting as the love for Obama abroad is the the amount of coverage dedicated to the American election in international papers. Like I've said before Brits probably know more about U.S. politics than many Americans. If you ever needed proof how vital America is to the rest of the world (other than the collapsing economy everywhere) just check out these papers.

How many times have you ever seen a British election on the front of a U.S. paper?


or a Peruvian election?


or a Portuguese election?


or a French election?

or an Italian election?


or a Colombian election?


Better yet can you name the leaders of the United Kingdom, Peru, Portugal, France, Italy or Colombia?*

--
Foot notes

*The famous poem inspired by Guy Fawkes' gunpowder plot:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I can think of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent

To blow up the King and Parli'ment.

Three-score barrels of powder below

To prove old England's overthrow;

By God's providence he was catch'd

With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

*Since the president is the most visible figure in the United States (with the possible exception of Will Smith), Americans are often stereotyped based on what the current president's personality is. So for the last eight years we've been described as pompous, stubborn, stupid, religious and cowboy. Well, at least that's what might professor says. Oh and if you thought liberal bias was bad in American colleges, then don't study abroad.

*UK: Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Peru: President Alan Garcia Perez
Portugal: President Anibal Antonio Cavaco Silva
France: President Nicolas Sarkozy
Italy: President Giorgio Napolitano
Colombia: President Alvaro Uribe Velez

Yeah, I had to look up all but UK and France. Also, many of these countries have both presidents and prime minsters, so I'm not even too sure who's the legit No. 1.