NORWAY

NORWAY

Stavanger Aftenbladet, Stavanger, April 15: The Americans have a new hero, and President Barack Obama can bask in the glow of a successful rescue action. It is good that it turned out well. Had the action gone wrong and the American sea captain been killed by pirates, the pipe of public opinion would have been playing a different tune.

There is also a risk that the action can affect the more than 200 hostages currently being held prisoner by Somali pirates, and cause the pirates to respond to American challenges by getting better weapons and equipment.

Dangerous solution

Obama has promised to stop the steadily increasing pirate activity. But how? More naval ships in the area and a more active pursuit of the pirates is a possibility. Weapons aboard the merchant ships that sail in the area are also being discussed. That is probably a dangerous solution. What about convoys through the waters?

The real solution in on land: Building up Somali’s authorities and economy. It will take time, but there are places to start.

JAPAN

Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, April 9: Israel’s new coalition government is headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the hawkish Likud Party and a pronounced hard-liner on the Palestine issue. His foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, heads the far-right Yisrael Beitenu Party. These developments raise concerns about the future of the Middle East.

The establishment of a Palestinian state is the fundamental premise of Mideast peace talks, but Netanyahu refuses to even mention it.

Foreign Minister Lieberman is a vocal proponent of expelling all ethnic Arabs — Palestinians — from Israel.

We cannot but feel that Israel’s new government is going against the global current.

Israel’s concerns

Obviously, it is impossible to envision security in this region without factoring in Israel’s concerns. Still, we could never condone any extreme hard-line national security policy by the Netanyahu government of the sort that led to the invasion of the Gaza Strip late last year.

Everyone must work harder to soften the international environment surrounding Israel and urge Tel Aviv to return to a pacifist stance.

For that, the international community must recognize Hamas in one way or another. Hamas, after all, is a democratically elected majority power. In both Israel and Palestine, hard-liners have the support of their respective voters. We have no choice but to accept this.

ISRAEL

Jerusalem Post, April 10: President Barack Obama has returned to Washington after his most significant trip abroad since taking office.

On the issues that most concern Israelis, paramount among them Teheran’s nuclear ambitions, Obama reiterated that he had “made it clear to the people and leaders” of Iran “that the United States seeks engagement based upon mutual interests and mutual respect. Now, Iran’s leaders must choose whether they will try to build a weapon or build a better future for their people.”

Atomic arsenal

Obama has been convinced — partly by venerable cold warriors such as Sam Nunn and Henry Kissinger — that it might be easier to garner international support for stopping pariah states from going nuclear if the U.S. shows a willingness to sharply reduce its own atomic arsenal.

Thus far into his presidency, it’s already apparent that Obama seeks to harness idealism with pragmatism. Yet if the G-20 (on the economic crisis), NATO (on Afghanistan-Pakistan) and Russia (on Iran) remain unmoved by appeals to multilateralism, expect Obama, like (former President Franklin D.) Roosevelt, to go with whatever works.