TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen said he believes Barack Obama as US president will adopt a substantially different approach to deal with the “tragic and appalling events” that have occurred in Gaza.
Mr Cowen said the new administration will revive the multilateral approach to foreign relations adopted by former president Bill Clinton.
“I believe that there will be a change in style and substance in the months and years ahead. And also a recognition that the resolution of problems and bringing about peace and development in the world is a multifaceted approach. That sort of approach we saw during the Clinton administration,” he said.
Mr Cowen delivered a major address on foreign policy at Keio University in Tokyo as part of his official five-day visit to Japan.
He strongly criticised Israel in the speech, saying its response to Hamas’s rocket attacks has been disproportionate. “Such action can only further complicate the search for a durable peace.
“As the tragic and appalling events of the last weeks have reminded us, the Middle East with the still unresolved issue of Palestine at its heart, is an acute source of instability [in the world]”.
Mr Cowen said the United States remained the world’s greatest power but also observed that “Iraq has exposed the limits of that power and America’s need for friends and partners”.
“The spread of liberal democracy, which during the 1990s seemed unstoppable, is faltering in many parts of the world. Human rights standards, which we regard as universal, are now more explicitly called into question.”
Asked later if his comments welcoming Mr Obama’s approach contained an implicit criticism of outgoing President George W Bush, he said the Bush administration’s projection of the United States and the strength of the US was a different approach, a different nuance. Ireland traditionally would be very much in favour of having a more effective multilateral system.
Mr Cowen said the world faced very challenging times, ranging from the global financial crisis, to recent events of the Middle East, and climate change. No country had been left untouched by these challenges.
The EU was taking a global lead in climate change, with its commitment to a possible target of a 30 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. He praised the role played by Japan in this area, describing it as being at the forefront in the development of green technology.
