TEMPLATE ANALYSIS

It is usual to refer to the leader of the most powerful country in the world as a lame duck as he approaches the last two years of his elected presidential term. That of course implies that he is simply form filling and entertaining heads of state. President Obama’s moves in the last two weeks are showing that this doesn’t have to be the case.
The much opposed CIA torture report which brought into the open what most people have claimed and suspected – namely that intelligence service broke all rules and gained nothing as a result, even the much heralded information leading to the assassination of Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with Rendition, Torture and Interrogation methods.
And last week came the highly unexpected announcement that there would be a change in the long-standing and very stupid dispute with Cuba, a small defenceless Caribbean island that dared to overthrow a Washington friendly regime and nationalise the country’s resources.
Both moves are bold and face the ignominy of being first ignored and second overturned by a future Republican led government. But that would be a mistake for the Obama administration is clearly signalling that there is a change in the way the US is going to deal with other nations. For the US is no longer the world’s sole superpower – technically there are two, the US and China, who the IMF recently referred as the world’s leading economy in terms of output from goods and services. That is something no future President can ignore and could even be a positive thing if America alters the way it treats weaker nations, and takes a leaf from China who has never attempted to bully or influence any country even North Korea who Washington is currently accusing of hacking a film owned by Sony.