soft power

Nowadays when you're black overseas, you will invariably be accosted by a street vendor; probably African or Indian. They will look you deep in your eyes, raise a fist in the air, and shout "OBAMA!"

That's Coleman Collins, an American who played basketball professionally in Germany from 2007-2008.
It turns out, though, that the street vendors merely appealed to the president's name in order to sell some more counterfeit goods. "They were doing what any great capitalist would -- seizing upon the zeitgeist to make a quick buck off some sucker on the street," says Collins.
I think it's a good metaphor for the power of Obama's image abroad in general. He is popular, and everyone knows he is popular. But will he be able to harness his celebrity to achieve something meaningful?

UPDATE: Here's a useful blog post on the Obama phenomenon and what sort of concrete effects it might have (short answer: not too many, but better than nothing)