Newspapers and websites are awash with articles about the expectation of change that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has raised. His slogans, “Change We Need,” and “Yes We Can,” have been instrumental.

But how much can realistically change?

Consider the war in Iraq. It is widely lamented in the U.S. where, just a few years ago, most Americans supported it and the president who led it. Today everyone is sick of it. Will Obama's presidency make any difference in the conclusion of this war? Will the troops come home any sooner? Will Obama's assessments of the reports his generals bring back be any different from the assessments of George W. Bush?

Consider the economy. To some, it might be clear what caused the recent meltdown. But it isn't exactly clear what will reverse it. Would Obama have done things much differently from Bush in response to the crisis? Will his actions in the future with respect to the economy be substantially different from that of John McCain if the latter had been elected? Under the Obama presidency, will the Federal Reserve Board, the New York Stock Exchange and other dominant American financial centres of power do more than move the furniture around? Although, admittedly, there has been a whole lot of furniture moved around of late.

Then there's American health care. Like Hillary Clinton before him, Obama is in favour of improving health care for Americans. But realistically, what will change? The machinery that governs and distributes health care in the U.S. is gargantuan. Even with today's extended life expectancy, is it likely that health care will change fast enough to affect anyone living today?

People talk about Obama making a fresh impact internationally. What will he do differently? Will he invade Somalia to stop the tribal bloodshed there? Will he prevent the Russians from cutting off fuel supplies to the smaller former members of the Soviet Union? Under Obama, will the U.S. stop supporting Israel's self-righteous brutalizing of other residents of the Middle East?

And consider the environmental crisis. It's bad. Very bad. But what will Obama do differently from any would-be Republican president? Will he challenge the dominance of the fossil fuel industry in energy? Won't Americans see him as wimpy if he plants wind farms and solar cells all over the countryside?

Half a century ago Americans elected a president who had the appearance of a bringer of change, a Messiah, who would curb the excesses and foibles of the past. Within a few short years however John F. Kennedy had bungled Cuban — American relations to the point where Americans were literally scurrying into their back yard bomb shelters as the world, horrified, found itself on the brink of a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet — Cuban alliance.

Kennedy drove the United States further into the Vietnam quagmire, which ended in utter disaster during the presidency of the even less fortunate Richard Nixon. Civil rights advanced under President Kennedy, but wasn't that largely due to the heroic efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. and others, though Kennedy's persona as a herald of change likely helped set the stage?

Americans will be saying many prayers for their new president when he is inaugurated. And that is appropriate. We ought to join them. Increasingly, we are aware that not any one country, never mind any one president, can satisfy the appetite for justice and healing that has arisen all over the globe like a great famine. Evil is often ready to devour the helpless and undo the greatest ideals of new presidents. Justice is frequently in short supply while guns and rocket launchers are placed in the hands of 10 year-olds. We should all pray that world leaders, especially the “most powerful” man on the planet, will govern wisely, justly, and yes, humbly.
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