To use a basketball analogy, the momentum of the game just changed.

The world just experienced a pivotal moment.

A reverse pivot, actually. (Note that a pivot is not the same as a flip, a flop, or a flip-flop.)

I’ve always said that if Senator Barack Obama is elected as President of the United States, it’ll say a lot more about America than it will say about Senator Obama. And that’ll be a good thing, for Obama, for America, and for the world.

Senator Obama clinching the Democratic presidential nomination last night is a pivotal step in that direction.

Here’s some international reaction, as summarized by the New York Times:

In the words of the MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews, “in Europe, in Africa, in Cape Town, in Nairobi, everywhere, in Bangladesh, in Asia — this is a huge story.”

Mr. Matthews may have been hyperbolizing as he named random countries and cities. But as Senator Barack Obama reached the end of the long road to the Democratic presidential nominee Tuesday night, viewers all around the world were indeed watching.

On Al Jazeera, on CNBC World, on the BBC, and on many other news channels, Mr. Obama’s speech was telecast live. Anchors and commentators repeatedly nodded to the historic nature of the night.

From BBC:

Not for the first time, Mr Obama’s campaign managers picked an indoor sports stadium as the venue for their rally – this time an ice-hockey hall in which four tiers of seating towered far above the stage.

The next time it stages a professional hockey game, it is going to seem a little sedate.

Mr Obama performed in the middle of a force-field of noise which mingled the joy and relief and hope he has kindled in his followers.

Some of his older black supporters will tell you candidly that there is a bit of disbelief in there too – they never expected in their lifetimes to be able to support an African-American candidate with a real chance of winning the White House.

Political campaigning is about mapping strategies, booking halls, buying advertising and beating rivals.

But every so often, in private, Mr Obama and his closest advisers must surely lift their eyes to history’s horizon and reflect on the powerful symbolism of his candidacy in a country which still lives with the legacy of racial division.

Within Mr Obama’s lifetime, white racist groups in the Deep South tried to intimidate black voters out of registering to take part in elections.

Now he has a real chance of becoming president.

From the CNN Africa Bureau:

Obama in Kenya in 2006.

Kenyans have long watched the U.S. presidential election with special interest and, in many cases, a special sense of pride.

Barack Obama speaks to residents of Africa’s largest slum, Kibera, Kenya, in August 2006.

Barak Obama is the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas.

“I’m excited … because he’s a Kenyan. He’s a half Kenyan,” a smiling woman said in a Nairobi neighborhood.

More than a few hangovers were expected Wednesday as many Kenyans celebrated the presumptive Democratic nominee’s latest primary election win and him surpassing the delegate total needed to win the party’s nomination.

Video from across the country showed Kenyans dancing and swilling Senator Keg Lager, which has picked up the nickname “Obama Beer” in honor of the junior senator from Illinois.

Obama is popular across many parts of the country, especially in western Kenya where many of his relatives live.

“I want a black man to rule America so that you can see the changes that Obama promised the people … to see the change,” one young man said.

“Obama is a (good) man,” said an older man with gray hair, carrying twisted wrought iron on his shoulder. “He’s fit to lead the country.”

In summer 2006 thousands of Kenyans lined the streets of Kisumu, giving Obama a hero’s welcome on his visit to his father’s home. Obama’s father died in a car accident in Nairobi in 1982.

As he rode through the streets in a truck, flanked by a lengthy convoy, massive crowds chanted “Obama, Obama” and waved flags emblazoned with his name and an image of his face. Many also wore T-shirts dedicated to the U.S. senator.

This feeling was echoed everywhere around the world, and you can check it out in more detail here and here.

The world wants to move into a new age. What you’ll see next is a pent up demand that people didn’t even realize they had, for a new way of thinking. For a new approach to life. For a new choice between love vs. fear.

A reverse pivot.

Try it, if you haven’t already.