Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009

American diplomacy is never without controversy, but who would have imagined that the standard protocol of a bow to the Japanese Emperor from U.S. President Barack Obama would have caused such a fuss?

Apparently, many rightwing critics in America complained that Mr. Obama bowed too low to the Emperor. Those America-centric conservatives took Mr. Obama's bow as a signal of America's weakness. Japan and most of the rest of the world saw that bow for what it was — a sincere gesture of respect and a step toward healthier relations.

Those who know Japanese culture even a little would not interpret this type of bow as subservience, much less as any indication of America's low status on the world stage. In Japan, bowing is as natural as taking off one's shoes when entering a home, though with more profound meanings. The conservative American critics of Mr. Obama would surely have found fault no matter how deep he bowed.

The arrival of a U.S. president who is aware of the importance of symbolic meanings and diplomatic gestures comes as a relief to most countries after the Bush administration's scarcity of interaction on any but its own terms.

As Mr. Obama well knows, a bow could have many different meanings within Japanese culture. It can be an everyday greeting, a simple thanks or a deep apology. Mr. Obama's bow carried less of these meanings than it did a sense of engagement. Stepping into another country's cultural complexities shows strength of character and self-assurance. Unlike the "cowboy diplomacy" of the former Bush administration, Mr. Obama clearly recognizes cultural realities.

Mr. Obama was not deferring to "a foreign potentate," as conservative critics see it. Instead, the simple gesture of a bow was a fitting way to show respect for Japanese culture, in particular, and awareness of how other cultures work, in general.

This visit to the Asia-Pacific region brings fresh hope that America will interact with its allies and adversaries without belligerence and one-sidedness. Approaching foreign countries with respect is an essential step toward building relations based on enlightened self-interest, a key component of Mr. Obama's diplomatic approach.

In Japan, as in most countries, respect is an essential precondition to greater communication and deeper understanding. After a calm, reasonable and culturally astute gesture of respect has been offered, real negotiations can begin. The bow may have been Japanese, but the attitude behind it would be welcome in any country.

In fact, Mr. Obama's gesture was not delivered as smoothly as are most of his speeches, which have become popular English-language study materials in Japan. Shaking hands at the same time as bowing nearly 45 degrees combines East and West in an uneasy single gesture. Usually, when East meets West, a bow precedes a handshake, or vice versa, or one is simply dispensed with.

No matter, most Japanese probably would not know the correct way to bow to the Emperor either, and the politeness inherent in his gesture is the key point. Mr. Obama's bow also indicated recognition that Japan is a unique and sovereign country that holds a large proportion of U.S. government bonds.

Another momentous stop on his Asian tour was the world's other massive economy, and another major holder of U.S. bonds — China. Mr. Obama's bow, then, certainly demonstrated a pragmatic element that extends to Asia more broadly. Mr. Obama brought a practical agenda to the tour and a desire to reaffirm connections with Asian governments and Asian economies. The way forward in Asia will only come through sustained and fair-minded negotiations that involve all the region's countries.

The Bush administration's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, undertaken with blind disregard for those cultures' realities, are unlikely to serve as a model for economic revitalization or cultural exchange, much less for spreading democracy. More important than small gestures is the harder work of concrete decisions and sensible actions. Finding common agreements that mutually benefit all countries in the Asian region is now the main focus. Bowing was the easy part.

Lost amid this controversy over the angle of bowing were two Japanese cultural experiences that Mr. Obama recollected from a boyhood trip to Japan: eating "matcha" green tea ice cream and seeing the Great Buddha in Kamakura.

Maybe future generations will be able to build their diplomatic efforts on these kinds of small simple pleasures and powerful spiritual expressions. If so, they won't get tangled in the unproductive obsessions that have for too long kept one country from communicating with another in more nuanced and lasting terms.

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