Obama and Europe, Cont.

Dan Drezner politely suggests I’m talking (or writing, rather) through my hat in this gloomy assessment of the transformational potential of the Obama presidency. Dan prefers to see the potential rather than the pitfalls. And he may be correct. It would probably be better for all if he were.

As it happens, I do think he’s right to argue that many european policy elites – and certainly much of the think tank world – do believe that Afghanistan must and can be saved. And it is certainly possible that withdrawing form Iraq (if that proves possible) could create the space and manpower needed to refocus on the “Good War”. Nonetheless, I suspect european public opinion has soured on or, to be more generous, is simply confused by a conflict that drags on with little sign of progress, let alone an endgame. Now it’s certainly possible that Obama can leverage his popularity and the idea of a fresh start and lead by example in Afghanistan.