Obama and the Illusion of Leadership

Europe is enthralled by Barack Obama, the Democratic presumptive nominee for US president. But columnist Jeremy Seabrook offers the reminder that real leadership requires more than charisma, humbleness or intelligence – and entails delivery of services and policy that improve communities and the world. A crowd of more than 200,000 turning out for Obama’s speech in Berlin demonstrates how global citizens yearn for leadership that delivers both vision and practical improvements. “The obsession with leaders – the private life of Sarkozy, the manipulativeness of Berlusconi, the new-found assertiveness of the Russians, a newly emollient China anxious to prove itself a modern, responsible power – suggest they are now flamboyant individuals rather than representatives; it is as though they have nothing to do with us,” writes Seabrook for the Guardian. “People of meagre talent and modest imagination now pose as 'world leaders,' guides and instructors of an imaginary, shifting 'international community.' He warns that “Power and privilege will always find ways round efforts to create economic and social justice.” In the face of great and global challenges, leaders actually hold little power. Individuals must muster all their strength to do their part, constantly striving to take steps that help their communities and, in turn, improve the world. – YaleGlobal

Obama and the Illusion of Leadership

Jeremy Seabrook
Monday, July 28, 2008

Click here to read the article in The Guardian.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008