Barack Obama followed through on broad global expectations yesterday with an eloquently understated repudiation of the Bush administration's swaggering approach to foreign policy.

But as the new American president will be well aware, the hard work now begins and it far easier to formulate policy and wrap it is in fine rhetoric than translating ideas into concrete action. Which is why, in looking forward to the expected change in tone in Washington, this newspaper will judge the Obama administration on the basis of specific action rather than style.

To be sure, Mr Obama comes to the White House with a store of goodwill, engendered not least by the assumption that he is the antithesis of his predecessor, who fashioned a unilateralist America. George Bush and the neo-cons failed to understand, or perhaps forgot, that America's global influence rested not only on its military might or economic power, but as much on a set of ideas and ideals which others felt were worthy of emulation. Indeed, it was Mr Bush's inadequate grasp of the limits of physical might and the grandeur of the ideas of America's founding fathers that caused the United States (US) to squander global support in the face of the 9/11 attack that put his administration at odds with so much of humanity.

Critical element

A promise to return to these essentials, and essentially American ideals, was a critical element of Mr Obama's first speech as president of the US, which we expect to have resonated around the world. Earlier generations, he said, "understood that our our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from, the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint".

So, the question for the Obama administration, as it tackles the grave economic crisis, is how it intends practically, to effect this return to a nuanced and balanced foreign policy that respects even the least powerful of nations, without compromising America's principles or placing at risk its security.

Palestinian/Israeli conflict

Most immediately, the world will watch how the Obama administration tackles the Palestinian/Israeli conflict in the wake of Israel's vulgarly disproportionate decimation of Gaza, in which over 1,300 people were slaughtered, supposedly in retaliation for Hamas' rocket attacks. America, at the best of times, has found it difficult to be an honest broker on this problem and the eight, mostly distracted, years of the Bush administration were the worst of times.

It will be critical for Mr Obama, whose support for Israel during his campaign was almost uncritical and unconditional, now to bring balance to his dealings with the leaders in Jerusalem to effect a wide settlement. A lack of even-handedness will undermine Mr Obama's invitation to the Muslim world to "seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect" and, ultimately, empower the radical and extremists bent on destruction.

The management of foreign policy, Mr Obama will be aware, is not disconnected from fixing America's economy. In a globalised world, he knows, everything is connected. Instability in the Middle East and poverty in Latin America can't anymore be contained as localised phenomena. Their impact will soon tell on Wall Street.

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