So, was it a mistake for Barack Obama to call himself a citizen of the world? That certainly seems to be the conventional wisdom. Even those who like the speech feel that phrase is problematic.
I don’t see it. It certainly doesn’t have any legal meaning, but it is important in a symbolic fashion saying that he will not act out of pure national self-interest (though as an American citizen he will not neglect it either). In the age of globalization, the rules of collective action demand that sometimes we not directly pursue our self-interest, less we ultimately be saddled with a sub-optimal outcome. So from a foreign policy standpoint, the statement is a good one.
As a political statement, I just don’t buy that Americans are so shamelessly nationalistic (and those that are likely reside in McCain’s base). The polling on American approaches to international relations are actually very positive regarding international cooperation and association (I don’t have a link off hand, this statement is based on a presentation I heard). And while people do want more action on domestic issues and rightly consider the Iraq War as preventing this action in part, I don’t get the sense that they consider it impossible to address domestic concerns while still playing a role in foreign affairs.
I think this is another case where the conventional wisdom comes about to fuel political unrest and to make things more interesting than the underlying reality.
