New Delhi: Though a Republican, William Cohen, served in the second term of Democrat president Bill Clinton as defence secretary. A Congressman since 1973, first in the House of Representatives and later in the Senate till he stepped down in 1997 to take over as defence secretary, he now heads The Cohen Group, which describes itself as a firm that provides strategic advice to corporate leadership. Cohen was in New Delhi last week to attend India Economic Summit organized by the World Economic Forum. He spoke to Mint about the recent elections in the US and the possible contours of the country’s foreign policy under the leadership of President-elect Barack Obama. Edited excerpts:
What are your thoughts on the just concluded historic election in the US?
It is very remarkable. I don’t think I have ever seen a single individual to be as magnetic a personality as Barack Obama. I was watching a football game the other evening and I saw 90,000 people in the stands and I said, but Barack Obama gets crowds like that; he got 200,000 in Germany. I don’t think we have ever witnessed anything like this. It is quite a phenomenon and is exciting for us to see. It offers great potential and hope to the US internally and I think much of the world is looking at the US believing and hoping that it will be a change on how we conduct our foreign policy and how we relate to the rest of the world.
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Do you think that these expectations will eventually prove to be a burden?
They are very high and perhaps impossible to measure up to. But I think there is such an element of goodwill that whatever the expectations...knowing that he is going to try and put the best team together; that he is going to bring “change” that people can believe in as he campaigned on that slogan... I think people will be satisfied that he is making the effort.
He is bound not just to succeed in every endeavour. But if he puts a great team and cabinet together and establishes a determination to work in a bipartisan fashion that will include having a couple of Republicans in his administration, I think it will send a very positive signal domestically and also internationally.
Do you really think that he will reach out to the Republicans after such a bitter campaign?
I think he will and I think he has to…because the issues he has to contend with transcend partisanship.
But the Republicans and Democrats are ideologically opposed to each other on almost everything.
I don’t think they are ideologically opposed. For example, senator John McCain, who is a very good friend of mine, came out in favour of doing something on climate change and global warming. Now, the rest of the party wasn’t necessarily supporting him. Nonetheless, he was, for all practical purposes, the leader of our party for the past year.