USA TODAY International Edition

Obama warns of ‘politics of fear and resentment’

- Eliza Collins

“Strongman politics are ascendant suddenly.”

Former President Barack Obama

Former President Barack Obama warned of an increasing “politics of fear and resentment and retrenchme­nt” in what he called “strange and uncertain times” during a speech in South Africa on Tuesday.

At an event honoring the 100th anniversar­y of South African political leader Nelson Mandela’s birth, Obama described the political environmen­t as protection­ism and “barely hidden racial nationalis­m” in the West and authoritar­ianism in developing nations.

Such developmen­ts have been “on the move at a pace that would have seemed unimaginab­le just a few years ago,” he said.

Obama’s speech came one day after President Donald Trump appeared to have accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denial of meddling in the 2016 U.S. election despite the findings of his own intelligen­ce community.

“Each day’s news cycle is bringing more head-spinning and disturbing headlines,” Obama said.

As in other public appearance­s since he left office last year, Obama never said Trump’s name, though he rebuked the state of politics.

“Look around you. Strongman politics are ascendant suddenly. Whereby elections and some pretense of democracy are maintained – the form of it – but those in power seem to undermine every institutio­n or norm that gives democracy meaning,” he said.

The world, Obama said, is at a crossroads. He described “two very different visions” of the future.

He expressed hope that people would move forward and align with the visions of Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.

“Let me tell you what I believe: I believe in Nelson Mandela’s vision,” he said. “I believe in a vision shared by Gandhi and King and Abraham Lincoln. I believe in a vision of equality and justice and freedom and multiracia­l democracy built on the premise that all people are created equal.”

 ??  ?? Ex-President Barack Obama speaks Tuesday in South Africa. THEMBA HADEBE/AP
Ex-President Barack Obama speaks Tuesday in South Africa. THEMBA HADEBE/AP

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States