Blame The Economy For Obama's Geopolitical Ineffectiveness

The Jerusalem Post has an interesting theory on why world leaders are saying no to President Obama these days:

It's the economy, stupid.

Everyone has worked it out by now: The great secret is out. America's economy has made Obama a weak president, and he will likely remain weak throughout his first term. He has about two years to pull the American economy out of its free-fall before he begins his reelection campaign. If he can do it, and that's a big if, chances are good that he'll get reelected, and in his second term he can try to pull some geopolitical strings. But for the next three years, expect to see a world that says no to Obama. No meaningful and dramatic diplomatic initiative can come out of the White House in the next three years, as long as Obama remains weak.

The JPost analysis also mentions Iraq and Afghanistan. But if you blame Wall Street, Fannie Mae, government regulators, or home borrowers for the economic crisis from which the nation is now recovering, you now have a culprit for the president's early difficulties in getting to yes with the likes of Medvedev, Jintao, Abbas, Netanyahu, Abdullah, and Iran.

Of course, it's also the first year of his first term, he's a 180 from his predecessor, and the world is still getting to know him.