The past few weeks have been difficult for me, settling into my normal routine, because for a month I was out of the United States, visiting Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. The trip was extremely enjoyable, though not without tension. My experiences in Pakistan revolve around my family and two hectic weddings, so I apologize if you were expecting a thrilling story of me traveling to Waziristan, recounting an experience with members of the Taliban, because that did not happen. This post won’t be about an over-arching idea or philosophy, or writing about pressing issues of our time through an objective viewpoint. This post just describes what I saw, not anything profound, or deep, or enlightening, just things I happened to encounter, reactions that were provided, and the insight that I received.

In casual conversation, there are only a few things one can talk about, the weather (It happened to be pretty chilly in Karachi, much colder than people are used to), sports (The Pakistan cricket team wasn’t doing that well), and politics.

Of course local news is discussed first, leading on to the larger picture. Firstly, the heightened tension between India and Pakistan was everything people talked about. The two governments were still arguing over the culprits of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Afterwards, when the situation between the two nations calmed, Israel launched its massive attack on Gaza, and Hamas. In lieu of opening another can of worms that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, let me just say that, I was in Pakistan, a nation founded on the religion of Islam, and which would inexplicably be biased in discussing this conflict. Thus throughout the onslaught that occurred in the Gaza Strip, everyone was criticizing Israel, and the United States, which would not object to anything the Israeli government did.

So, being an American citizen, I was deluged with questions, would the new administration change the foreign policy, which had been carried out during the Bush administration. I answered as honestly as I could, I told them that foreign policy wise, the people of Pakistan, would not see a change with the incoming administration, because Obama’s pragmatic attitude is extremely similar to the second term George W. Bush. However domestically, many changes would be made by the Obama administration. I told them that what separates Obama from previous presidents is his opposition to ideological certainties that have clouded decisions made in past three decades. He listens to all ideas and chooses what he thinks is the best solution. They accepted my word for it, and looked on to the future, not expecting much difference.

Upon reaching London however, reactions changed, even though my entire family is Pakistani, residing in England some of their concerns are different than those in Pakistan. Since the economic relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States is hand in hand, their immediate concern was the global recession that is taking place in the developed world. In addition, their outlook was hopeful, and optimism was high for the incoming Democratic administration.

What was most different between UK and Pakistan looking at Obama was their perception of him; to Pakistani’s he was just another American (which is not surprising due to the “us” vs “them” mentality that is so pervasive in the region). In England however, the breaking of the racial barrier, a fresh start, the coming of a new age was present. When Obama won the election on that first Tuesday of November, the feeling that America was witnessing an historic occasion, that feeling was palpable. There was this sense of goodness that was running through the veins of the citizens of this great nation. This feeling transferred over the Pond, because the cultures of both United Kingdom and the United States are very similar, and thus when a historic barrier is broken in one nation, it also affects the other. However a Pakistani could not sympathize or empathize with these feelings because the historical or cultural background was not present.

So we look on, some look on with hope, others with skepticism, and others yet with cynicism. Yet that is all we can do, we can only judge after the deed is done. Maybe Obama will be regarded as an ally to ordinary Pakistani citizens. Maybe Obama will not be able to fix the economic troubles of our time. Maybe he’ll fix all. Maybe he will fix nothing. But there will be a difference of opinion everywhere in the world, and that will never change. And maybe it is time that we accept Obama’s opposition to ideological certainties, and realize that there is no right way to accomplish something, or a right way to think. Opinions differ and we should take all into account, or at least know and understand them.