January 25, 2010 -
With President Obama’s first State of the Union address coming this Wednesday (January 27), I couldn’t help but think back to the Bush/Cheney era and reflect a bit. During those years, like many bandleaders and musicians who tour abroad, I often was approached by people—audience members, concert promoters, club owners, journalists, local musicians, etc.—questioning American foreign policy. Their reactions to the Bush/Cheney doctrine of absolute executive authority, unilateral intervention, pre-emptive war, and discarding allies who dared to disagree with the U.S. ranged from befuddlement and concern to frustration and outrage. They would ask, “What is your country doing?” And some would personalize it: “Who do you guys think you are?”

I thought it was important to make the case that many Americans were strongly opposed to the policies that the Bush administration was pursuing. And I was one of them. “Not in our name” was a consistent refrain among my fellow musicians. I believed that the best way to communicate my profound objections to what was happening was to be openly critical through my music and during performances and interviews. I decided to use these opportunities to convey to my audience that there was another side to America and that many of us—maybe even a majority of us—weren’t as self-righteously deluded as our policies made us appear. Whenever I was critical, I was met with overwhelming approval wherever in the world we were performing (my “Dick Cheney Suite” was always a crowd pleaser). This was reassuring.

Thankfully, times are changing. The Obama administration’s evolving approach to global diplomacy—talking to our allies and our “enemies” alike—has gone a long way toward reversing the damage done by the Bush administration. The mantra has shifted from “you’re either with us or against us” to what President Obama called in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech “the choice of an open door.” It’s generating goodwill and repairing America’s global image. True, it’s still very early in the Obama presidency and there’s so much to do. But when I take my band out on the road now, I sense a completely different attitude toward the U.S. Let’s do everything we can to make it last.

FOLLOWUP (April 19, 2010)
Since I wrote the above words nearly 3 months ago, it is increasingly clear that America’s image has, in fact, improved dramatically world-wide. A recent article at CBSNews.com cited a BBC World Service annual poll that found that “In 20 of the 28 countries polled, the United States was viewed favourably, with an average of 46 per cent of the 30,000 adults surveyed saying its influence in the world was positive compared with 34 per cent saying its influence was negative.” This represents a 9 point drop in negative ratings and a 4 point increase in positive ratings. Apparently, the Obama effect is real. How this translates into actual policy remains to be seen.