When Obama went bargain hunting

Indian delegates to the Copenhagen climate meet are still recovering from US President Barack Obama’s eleventh hour histrionics to salvage his reputation and pull the conference back from the brink of failure. There they were on the final day of the meet, bags packed and ready to leave for the airport at 5pm, convinced that the biggest climate show on earth was heading for disaster with no agreement in sight. Then came word that Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao wanted a last huddle with his BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) bloc partners. At 6pm, the four leaders gathered around a table in a room at the far end of the conference headquarters, Bella Centre. For an hour, they tossed around suggestions, trying to find a way out of the brinkmanship that had brought the meet to a point of no return. Suddenly, the door burst open and in walked Obama with all the flurry of the president of the world’s most powerful country. He stopped short in simulated surprise. “Oh, all four of you,” he exclaimed. “Shall I come back later?”
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It was a deft performance but no one was taken in. There was no way that Obama could not have known what was happening in that room. He was promptly invited inside. He took his seat at the table and then began one hour of haggling during which the US-BASIC countries accord was hammered out. What amazed all those present was the way Obama personally conducted the negotiations. He argued over words and occasionally pulled aside to consult with his team, but through it all, he was very much in command. The scene in that room went completely against the run of other international negotiations. Usually, the difficult bit is done by officials and the heads of state and government come in at the end to sign a pre-cooked agreement. At Copenhagen, pushed by Obama, leaders of the four BASIC countries were forced to behave like official negotiators. Wen suggested the word “analysis” when Obama rejected the word “information”. And at environment minister Jairam Ramesh’s suggestion, Manmohan Singh introduced the word “consultation” when Obama demanded a more transparent verification regime for domestic mitigation action by individual countries. A veteran of many multi-lateral negotiations from his days as finance minister, Manmohan Singh seemed quite at home. He was cool and calm, held the BASIC bloc’s line firmly and exchanged notes with his team, sometimes in English and sometimes in Hindi.
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After an hour, Obama walked out with an accord in his pocket. He went straight to another room where leaders of Europe, Australia and Canada were waiting and he literally bludgeoned them into accepting an agreement which they had no role in drafting. It was a huge comedown for these traditional allies of the US. They had played goalkeeper for the Americans but when the chips were down, Obama bypassed them all to do a side deal with the rising powers of the 21st century. Copenhagen may have failed as an environment conference but it has laid the foundation of a new global order with the US displaying a willingness to do business with the emerging economies at the cost of old friends.
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Tailpiece
Here’s another bit of showmanship from Obama. After arm-twisting European and Australian leaders into accepting his deal with the BASIC countries, the US president walked out triumphantly and went straight up to the PM’s special envoy on climate change, Shyam Saran, who was standing with other delegates. Putting both hands on Saran’s shoulders, Obama said, “Thank you for being so positive. And please thank your prime minister.” That’s smart politics.