NBC's Richard Engel Highlights Second Term Obama's "Diminished" Global Influence

 by kristinn

NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel spoke about President Barack Obama's "diminished" influence over global affairs this morning on NBC's Meet the Press, saying that "authoritarian" China was being seen as a model for governance by more of the world's youth than the United States.
Engel was on a panel hosted by David Gregory that also included Obama campaign honcho David Axelrod, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, NBC's Tom Brokaw and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough.
Engel made his comments toward the end of the first segment of the round table discussion on Obama's second term which started today.
Engel faced push back from Scarborough, but stood his ground.
My transcription from the Meet the Press video segment Panel weighs in on President Obama's second term:
David Gregory: "..Just as somebody who lives abroad, and I talk about, you know, as The Economist did, America's ability to have influence in the rest of the world, how do you see the challenges he (Obama) faces?"
Richard Engel "Well, it's greatly diminished. I think the Chinese model is one that appeals more and more in the developing world. People see that an authoritarian state can hold on to power, can hold on to stability and can drive the economy forward.
"When you look, when you talk to people in Africa and across the Middle East they're not satisfied with the way things are going. Sure this idea of democracy was injected in to the region, but it has brought mostly chaos. But I think the U.S. role, the U.S. example is not the one that is on the mind of the youth internationally. People are looking more to different kinds of..."
Smug Manhattanite Joe Scarborough talks down to the globe traveling reporter Engel: "The Soviet model seemed pretty attractive to some of these same regions in the 1950s. So I would be skeptical that an authoritarian model is going to..."(Crosstalk)
Richard Engel:
"...It certainly has its issues, but you don't hear people talk about the United States the way they used to. You don't hear them talk about the U.S. and this idea that--sure people would like to come here and set up their (businesses), get visas and green cards--but the U.S. just doesn't seem to have the kind of clout..."
Doris Kearns Goodwin (for the save for Obama): "We still have the most successful economy in the whole world, though, right?"
Crosstalk, end of segment.
Later in the broadcast, Engel cast doubt on the wisdom of Obama turning his back on long time American ally Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, saying that led to the current turmoil across the whole Middle East. He said that it would be up to historians to decide whether Obama took the right decision.