I wanted to add this to my Enneagram Life blog post again as I restart my blog. Barack Obama had a one-on-one interview with CNN’s GPS commentator Fareed Zakaria who asked him questions regarding international policy—which included the differences between factions of Islam. What would he do as president, if Osama Bin Laden was captured? Would he have peace talks with all nations?
This article first appeared on my Enneagram Examiner page — Dated March 2009.
I wanted to add this to my Enneagram Life blog post again as I restart my blog. At the time, many didn’t think he was an Enneagram 9, I was trying to make my point about the diplomat in his speeches. It continues to be clear that Obama shows characteristics of the Enneagram 9 (Diplomat) with a strong wing of Type 1. I added this to the new site because I want to remember a time of President Obama and how the Enneagram played a part of knowing his motivations. Enjoy.
March 21, 2009
Barack Obama had a one-on-one interview with CNN’s GPS commentator Fareed Zakaria who asked him questions regarding international policy—which included the differences between factions of Islam. What would he do as president, if Osama Bin Laden was captured? Would he have peace talks with all nations (including China and Russia)?
I continue to see the policies that will be Barack Obama’s legacy—bringing people together for the common good. Like the captain of a starship—by the named the fictional character John Luc Picard on Star Trek. He was always negotiating for war-torn nations about to do battle unless a single voice of peace helped guide the two nations to settle their differences. John Luc Picard was a diplomat, a man willing to see both sides to help solve major issues. Barack Obama is also a diplomat — whose core value is to be able to bring people together and heal conflicts.
The Enneagram and Politics
There’s a 350-year-old personality philosophy named the Enneagram that I have learned and studied over 20 years—where I received my introduction from a psychologist who specialized in trauma patients. In this belief, there are nine distinct viewpoints that everyone has and it’s the core or values that guide you throughout life. One type doesn’t trump the other, but all types have healthy, average, and unhealthy sides to them. Whatever the personal beliefs have to do with love, work, politics or society, the principal system comes to play in everything we do. Some may find this a bit strange as some have thought this a higher form of numerology, but this system is older, and more in the lines of psychology, Myer-Briggs, or spiritually, where it originated—but I find the Enneagram a deeper path to discovering oneself. Whether you believe in the system or not, make no mistake, once you understand the method and how it works, you can see clear direction and guidelines to the person’s voice, reason or actions.
Here is just a brief narration of type Nine
- The Diplomat: Understanding all sides. Passive-aggressive stands.
- Brings people together for the common good and to heal conflicts.
- Basic Fear: To have loss and separation.
- Basic Desire: To have peace of mine and get along with others.
- Core Self/Superego: Everything is good and okay if all is okay in the world.
The role of the Diplomat
There are keywords (which I underlined) that will bring you to understanding Obama’s core positioning regarding believing in bipartisan because his core values dictate this action. Read below when Zakaria from CNN asked Obama about approaching other nations to band together when threats are a real possibility.
Zakaria: You talked about the other threats we face. In dealing with these threats, how should we approach other nations? John McCain has talked about a new G-8, the group of the richest countries in the world, which would exclude Russia, expel Russia, and not include China. So, it would be an attempt to draw a line in the sand and cast out, as it were, the non-democracies. Do you think that’s a good idea?
Obama: It would be a mistake. Look. If we’re going to do something about nuclear proliferation — just to take one issue that I think is as important as any on the list — we’ve got to have Russia involved.
…China is going to be one of the dominant economies …The notion that we don’t want to be engaged in a serious way with China, or that we would want to exclude them from the process of creating international rules of the road that are able to maintain order in the financial markets, that are able to address critical issues like terrorism, that are able to focus our attention on disparities of wealth between countries — that does not make sense.
..I think that we have to be tough negotiators with them when it comes to critical issues. For example, if China is not working cooperatively with us on trade issues, I think that there’s nothing wrong with us being tough bargainers. But we have to engage and get them involved and brought into dealing with some of these transnational problems. And that kind of tough, thoughtful, realistic diplomacy used to be a bipartisan hallmark of U.S. foreign policy.
..We need to show leadership through consensus and through pulling people together wherever we can. There are going to be times where we have to act unilaterally to protect our interests…
Understanding Barack Obama’s core belief system will help you understand positions that he has and will take in the coming months—healthcare, education, the economy or Iraq. He’s about meeting in the middle, for all parties to agree on, but in the end, he will make the decision that is in line with his core belief system — giving peace a chance to work out conflicts that will unite on a global playing field.
Now the question remains, was I right in 2009 on President Obama’s way of dealing with foreign leaders? How about his temperament? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
