International View: Does 44 Want to Be Re-Elected in 2012?

Few Americans consider themselves bigger than the presidency but Obama might be one of them. The man in the Oval Office, argues Toby Harnden in the U.K. Telegraph, may already be preparing for a role as a post-president in a post-American world.

"Obama is the first black American president, an established author, multi-millionaire and acclaimed figure beyond American shores.


It seems highly unlikely that Obama will decide not to run in 2012. But he might well be calculating that a embarking post-presidential role as the leading global thinker in the post-American world as a Republican successor enters office is more attractive than being sullied by the political compromises and manoeuvrings necessary to win."

UK Telegraph's full article  by Toby Harnden here