The beginning of Obama's presidency

I'm traveling to Washington to attend Barack Obama's swearing in as President of the United States, in three days. In fact, the celebratory events already begin tomorrow--I'm planning to go to a reception organized by the state of Vermont for the occasion--and intensify Monday, arriving at their peak on Tuesday, with the central event.

Obama arrives in the capital today on a train from Philadelphia, emulating the historic trip of his predecessor Abraham Lincoln some 150 years ago. The inauguration of each new president of the United States has always awoken expectations and mobilized more people than we could imagine in the political life of any other country in the world. To the solemnity of the moment are added elements of revelry, spectacle and warmest explosions of enthusiasm, in a unique cocktail. The panorama heading to the White House is an occasion many people and groups take advantage of, flying all kinds of flags or rather, from the position of observers, enjoying the view of a very diverse crowd.

This time, however, things have taken on a certain edge: people are aware that these events have a profound meaning, way beyond the pomp and the pageantry. They mark a transcendental moment in the history of the United States and the world. The possible change that Barack Obama stood for during the electoral campaign in such an insistent and electrifying way now has arrived with the fact of his very election. For the first time, an Afro-American, a politician almost unknown just a few years ago, takes his place in the highest office of the country. For the first time, an audacious message in favor of the most disfavored, obtained majority support instead of the suspicion of supposed extremism. For the first time, the world is almost unanimously convinced that a new philosophy of international relations is moving into the White House.

In the last few months, when people asked me about the American elections, I often answered, half in jest, that with such high expectations, whatever Obama does will fall short and easily cause disappointment. I would then add that as for me, to avoid disappointment, I'm satisfied with what the revolutionary fact of his election has already achieved.

However, the truth is that more than ever we need an intelligent and ambitious president in the United States, and even the world. We need results now. Gaza cannot wait. Middle Eastern peace cannot wait. Hunger and the conflicts in Africa cannot wait. The fight against climate change cannot wait.

His tasks will not be easy. The fact that the new team has gained power with a program that bet firmly on multilateral collaboration does not mean, for example, that Europe and the United States will coordinate their international agenda overnight. It also does not mean that American society has suddenly changed its basic perceptions about the foreign relations options within reach of its government. Obama will be successful if he can lead a true "cultural" revolution that situates the implication of the destinies of the world in the very heart of internal politics. It will also be necessary to avoid letting his internal political agenda interfere in the resolution of the world's problems. The problems of earlier administrations should not be repeated, in which the prospects for the Middle East peace process were slowed down or intensified depending on whether the US was heading into an election period.