In Thomas L. Friedman's column: Paging Uncle Sam, taken from The New York Times; the rest of the World still looks to the U.S. for leadership even though the U.S. doesn't feel like it's the superpower it once was.
Friedman gives the reader a straight-forward view of American global leadership. He argues that World leaders often complain that; in this post Cold War, American Power is too strong. However a World without American power is too dangerous to even imagine. A World without American leadership contends Friedman; would be a leaderless World. He breaks down key nations such as Russia, China and the European Union not being able to fill the shoes that America has. His basis for Russia and China is that neither country has the will or a way to provide global public goods that America provides. He explains that the European Union is so at ends with itself that it can't even pass a stimulus package.Friedman goes further and backs up his point by giving the reader cases in point. One example is the amount the dollar is beginning to gain on global currencies, such as the Korean currency, which has lost nearly 40 % to the dollar in the past six months. This is all because countries are turning to America for leadership during these rough times. They see that the American Government and its citizens HAVE the ability to navigate through the rough waters that face the global economy.
Thomas Friedman's credentials speak for themselves. He is the recipient of three Pulitzer prizes for commentary, all while writing for The New York Times. He has served as chief economic correspondent in the Washington District and before that the chief White House correspondent. It is fair to say that Mr. Friedman knows what he is writing about; in terms of global economics. Mr. Friedman wrote this commentary while in Seoul, South Korea. The commentaries he recieved from Korean economic officials are naturally more biased towards American leadership. Had Mr. Friedman been in Moscow or Beijing the tune might have been a little different. Still though Friedman is right; while Europe can't get along (which is what it does best) and China and Russia entertain the idea that they are gaining ground on the U.S., it is America that is "taking the bull by the horns" so-to-speak. The rest of the World is just watching and waiting to see what comes next.
