Inspired by the way Obama’s candidacy has begun to transform the significance of the 2008 elections, our aim is to cover the whole waterfront of issues now in play, from McCain and the fate of the Bush neo-conservatives to the Democrats and nature of modern American politics.
At the end of 2007, it seemed to most observers that the presidential election would see a repeat of the usual limited US domestic choices and a dispiritingly narrow attempt to resuscitate US global power after Bush. For the first time, the election would have a female contender, but a dynastic one formed by – and likely to reproduce – the traditional politics of the Beltway.
We are now in the midst of a genuinely novel and important political contest which has opened out a profound range of issues for relevant debate. A new US generation has entered politics thanks to Obama. The influence of the web has ceased to be oppositional and has become a shaping force (for the right as well). The credit crunch has placed governance of the economy centre stage. Internationally, the Iraq war and the argument (hopefully not an armed one) over and with Iran, remain subject to intense international debate, with big-dipper expectations themselves needing cool analysis. What kind of international order – or disorder – will emerge in the aftermath of the current presidency? And how can a politics “from below” as Obama puts it, have any influence over this?
Day-to-day coverage of the US election is already well provided for. But it is important to recognise that something truly surprising is happening in the United States which matters for the world as a whole, and calls for a deeper, intelligent discussion of the forces beneath the foam - engaging a global readership that exists both within as well as outside the United States. The issues posed need to be discussed now, before the election.
openUSA will be an accessible centre for reporting and reflection. Most of its reporting will be brief coverage of the best analytic and thoughtful articles elsewhere, providing a very useful aggregating site for those who want to follow the US election, but not obsessively. In addition it will publish original, regular reflections by authoritative essayists.
The publishing form of openUSA will be that of a group blog edited as an independent page on the openDemocracy website. It will use openDemocracy as technical support, as a publishing platform, as a marketing environment, and as an editorial environment whose high standards enjoy a global reputation.
