A Promised Land

Chapter 14 sees Obama stepping onto the international stage at the Group of 20 Leaders’ Summit (G20) in London. Obama found a partner in Gordon Brown (England), but faced skepticism from Angela Merkel (Germany) and pushback from Nicolas Sarkozy (France). Merkel was concerned about exports, whereas Sarkozy wanted to crack down on tax havens. Focusing on more immediate ways of improving the economy, Obama and Geithner pushed Merkel and Sarkozy to adopt policies that increased aggregate demand. They agreed on the condition that Obama convince the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to stop blocking proposals important to Europe. This influential group of non-Western countries broke rules and only aided other countries at a price. Obama met privately with President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia to discuss the Russian occupation of Georgia, the use of Russian airspace for the US war in Afghanistan, and curbing nuclear proliferation. Medvedev agreed to begin negotiations on cutting Russian and American nuclear stockpiles. For his part, Obama stated his intent to review the Bush administration’s plan to build a missile defense system in Europe, something he’d planned to do before Medvedev asked.

The G20 ended with an agreement to address the financial crisis.