Chuck Hagel and the birth of a new America

President Barack Obama has made his decision. The US leader decided to appoint former Senator, Chuck Hagel, as his Defence Minister. It's a big event in every sense of the word. This is a very clear sign of the birth of a new America, a different nation born out of the recent presidential election, which gave Obama his second term in office. Chuck Hagel is no ordinary politician: an exceptional personality, loved by some and hated by others. But above all else, Hagel does not appease the Israelis. After all, it was Hagel who said, while he was still a member of the Senate: “I represent Nebraska, not Israel.” His appointment is one more extension of Obama's victory in November’s presidential election. The American people rarely extend the mandate of a president when unemployment rates are hovering around the eight percent mark. This has only happened once before. Even an exceptional president like George Bush Senior failed to win a second term in 1992 because of the economy. America has changed from the inside out. It is deeply changed. A Republican candidate, Governor Mitt Romney, lost to an African-American Democratic candidate despite receiving 59 percent of the white vote. Do not underestimate this number – America’s voting demographic is still 72 percent white. What’s new here is the participation of new, enthusiastic forces thanks to broader registration on the country’s electoral lists. American Jews have used them in the past to prove themselves to be a significant electoral force in crucial swing states. This time, with the help of African-American and Hispanic voters, women and young people, Obama took all of these states. New forces are at play. There is a renewed desire among African-Americans to vote again. 93 percent of the black vote went to Obama, compared with 71 percent among Hispanic voters and 73 percent among Asian voters. The proportion of women voting for Obama reached 55 percent. Another factor that cannot be ignored is the proportion of Jews in America who voted for the Democratic candidate – 70 percent of them, in fact. This suggests that the majority of Jews in America are liberals who oppose war and refuse the extremist policies of the American Right. There is no doubt that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, whose personal relationship with Obama has gone from bad to worse in recent times, will now be thinking hard about how to build bridges with the US President. Obama has succeeded -- so far -- in not bowing to the Israeli agenda regarding US policy towards Iran. The selection of Chuck Hagel as Defence Minister only confirms that this new America allows its President to choose the ministers he wants, not ministers Israel wants. In other words, the majority of American voters chose to give Obama a new mandate, in return for his pursuit of a cautious foreign policy while also working to alleviate domestic problems at home - especially amongst the Hispanic community. That community in particular has become a considerable electoral force, ultimately enabling the Democratic candidate to win - albeit by a narrow margin in the state of Florida, the battleground state that decided who won the 2000 election. We cannot ignore the fact that Obama has treated new immigrants humanely, even those previously classed as “illegals.” Regardless of whether Obama has enacted changed or not, we are now dealing with a different America in which majority opinion opposes new wars – contrary to the demands of Israel. It therefore seems unlikely that Obama will decide to strike Iran, providing it remains committed to certain limits on its nuclear programme and does not push its regional ambitions further. Obama will continue to rely -- with Hagel and his new Foreign Minister, John Kerry -- on the ability of economic sanctions to force Tehran back on the right path. There is no doubt that the new Defence Minister will reconsider previously stated views on the possibility of opening up dialogue with Tehran and finding a common formula for understanding that does not include sanctions. Americans will be hoping Obama can relieve them from the nightmare of Afghanistan, just as he relieved them from the nightmare of Iraq [albeit at the expense of the Iraqis]. The President will not interfere militarily in Syria as he continues to look on as Syrians are killed. Will the average American citizen lose sleep over this? Probably not. Arab states are going to take the initiative in the region as a result – this new American nation has avoided dealing directly with trouble spots in the Middle East: look at Syria, the next major problem in Yemen and, of course, the ticking time bomb in Pakistan. Anyone looking to understand the old-new American dichotomy must consider Obama's speech after the election. The President spoke about "freedom from dependence on imported oil." This means giving priority to US domestic affairs – the ultimate ambition of the US President in 2013 – while choosing Kerry and Hagel for top government positions seems like the perfect expression of the new America. America is different now. On the one hand, the country is less interested in the Middle East, but at the same time it has begun saying no to Israel. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.