Which president?

The US presidential race is heating up as it heads into its final weeks, and though it may not immediately appear to be related to Nordic security, it surely is. The difference between the two candidates in their approaches to world politics, and how to deal with issues relating to Russia, multilateral relations and trade all impact on our security.

On Russia, it is clear that the belligerent tone struck by in particular John McCain is very unhelpful. Though far from a democratic state in western terms, Russia still comprises an important part of the core, which we need to include more than exclude. The idea that we can "punish" Russia by refusing to cooperate and not including it into "world society" is ludicrous - we can no more do that than deciding that our left foot will not get more blood supply today (i.e. we can do it, but it will do us little good) Barack Obama strikes a somewhat more conciliatory tone, and though he does not exactly sing Russia's praises either, we stand to hope that he will be a more reasonable custodian of the relationship between Russia, the US and the western allies.

This feeds into the second point, which is multilateral relations. Vital to maintain the integrity of the core and to coordinate the work to integrate the gap, it has been sorely missing during the last eight years. The US has more often than not seen multilateralism more as a hindrance than an aid, and hence missed out on the opportunities offered to build international security institutions and to strengthen multilateral cooperation. This has meant that when we now face challenges such as fighting piracy in the Gulf of Aden, we have multiple countries, including Russia, Malaysia and India all sending vessels, but no overarching body or history of cooperation to step in and take leadeship. Multilateralism is at the heart of achieving such cooperation, and multilateralism is at the heart of the position of small states in the world. Again, John McCain, who feeds off a constituency which rather wants the UN out of the US than building bridges internationally, something which is far from being in the interests of small states.

The final point is also the only one where John McCain may have an advantage over his opponent. Senator Obama's flirting with the left has come at the cost of offering support for protectionist interests in the US. Free trade (and yes, fair trade) is at the heart of shrinking the gap and at the heart of the wealth of small states. Protectionism serves no one in the long run, it is giving in to short term interests of special interests and the fear of the outside, the "others." It is simply not the right way to go.

But on the balance - Barack Obama is the best for small states. His more balanced approach to Russia, his faith in multilateralism will be far better for us all, and despite his limited faith in the power of trade, he is still the most suitable candidate.