Journalism: Canada: Prestigious commentator thinks Obama suffered diplomatic defeat at London Summit

US Prez Obama went to the London Summit

looking for an international agreement to pursue stimulus measures, convinced that the approach he's pursuing domestically is the way to end the global economic crisis. In the weeks leading up to the summit, his officials had already backed off their demand for a commitment to a specific figure; namely, the IMF recommendation of 2 per cent of GDP.

Still, arriving in London, U.S. President Obama was quite isolated. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was sympathetic, but the Governor of the Bank of England had already warned the Labour government that it was out of fiscal running room and that a visit from the IMF was just around the corner.

As the OECD reported this week, Canada does have fiscal room to pursue further stimulus measures. And, aside from his own objectives related to the regulation of financial institutions, Prime Minister Stephen Harper tried to help Mr. Obama. The reality, however, is that Canada has very limited clout at these meetings.

In the end, Mr. Obama had to give way - principally to French and German objections. Worse, from the American point of view, the stimulus that was agreed to at the meeting is particularly costly for U.S. taxpayers.

The writer Norman Specter, perhaps Canada's most prestigious journalist, in his blog (Apr2,2k9).

But Mr. Specter may not understand Obama's goals, his strategy, for the Summit and his following visits to Paris, Prague, and Turkey. He advocated that the European Union admit Turkey to membership.

-- Politicarp