Obama, U.S. stay on summit sidelines

CANNES, France – In one international crisis after another, the U.S. has long been front and center in leading the way out. Not this time.

As countries with economies as small as Australia stepped up Thursday to pledge money for Europe’s bailout fund, President Barack Obama made no such commitment. Instead, at the summit of major world economies here, he maintained that Europe should rely on its own resources to solve the problem.

To some extent, the relative lack of a U.S. role here reflects the rise of other economic powers in the world, as well as Obama’s preference for a multilateral approach. But the shift also reflects the weakness of the U.S. economy and, in the eyes of some analysts, the diminished authority of America.

In 1995, the U.S. Treasury singlehandedly rescued Mexico when its peso and economy collapsed. Two years later, acting through the International Monetary Fund, Washington played a critical role in stabilizing the Asian financial crisis. And as late as the spring of 2009, a newly inaugurated Obama arrived at a summit in London like a white knight, marshaling support for a synchronized international stimulus to avert a global meltdown.

Some analysts and European government officials say it’s natural that Obama has had a reserved presence at this summit, which has been dominated by the European debt crisis.

The problems of Greece’s debt and eurozone membership are inherently European, they say. France, Germany and other European powers have a compelling interest in resolving that problem themselves.

“Fundamentally, it depends on Europe to clean up its own mess,” said Razeen Sally, co-director of the European Center for International Political Economy in Brussels.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said much the same thing: “The euro and Europe is our heritage, and we need to defend it.”

At the same time, it’s clear that Obama’s preoccupation with domestic problems has narrowed his options on the international stage.

Hobbled by debt problems and partisan warfare, Obama doesn’t have the political or financial means to offer his allies cash. So as Europeans sought contributions for their bailout fund, most notably from China, the White House on Thursday told them that the U.S. commitment would be advisory, not monetary.