Which country did Obama call first after his election?
The nation’s strongest ally Israel? Its biggest rival China? Its neighbours Canada or Mexico? Or perhaps America’s cultural bedrock, the United Kingdom?
Would you believe me if I told you it was us?
Well, according to the phone records released by his transition team, we were.
The list says that Obama called nine countries on November 6th: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
And between November 7th and November 10th Obama called the leaders of China, Egypt, Italy, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the commander of NATO.
On November 11th he called the Pope, and the leaders of Brazil, India, Jordan and Kenya.
On November 17 he called the leaders of Georgia, the Philippines and Turkey.
On November 18 he called the heads of state of Argentina, Chilie, Ireland, Kazakhstan and the Palestinian Authority.
And on the 19th and 20th he called the secretary-general of the United Nations as well as the Presidents of Afghanistan, the European Commission, Indonesia and Colombia.
Now, what I’m not telling you is the lists were released in alphabetical order, so we probably weren’t first - but we were in the first group. Certainly Obama was rapping with Rudd before he was exchanging pleasantries with Pope Benedict.
What can be read from this? Well, clearly Obama called his closest neighbours and allies first. Next came nations that are too powerful to put off or who are strategically important.
Next came emerging powers – India, Brazil etc.
But as Andres Oppenheimer from the Miami Herald points out – what’s surprising is who he hasn’t called and who he called last.
He hasn’t yet yakked to the president of Iraq. And it took him ages to speak to the boss man of Colombia even though the country is one of America’s strongest regional allies. Especially given dealings with the region are vital in terms of issues like drugs, immigration, trade, and oil (the country gets more oil from the Western Hemisphere than from the Middle East.)
But whatever the various implications of Obama’s phone calls there’s only one implication we need to be really mindful of. He called us first.
* With special thanks to the
Miami Herald.