Obama has a clear mandate given to him by the voters and Conservatives.
Since the Conservatives won't compromise Obama's only choice is to take the power he has and and pursue his agenda, pure and undiluted.
The minority has said that if they don't get their way they will not play. They don't understand they lost the election and that the country is more important than either party. For them it's "me, me, me and then some more for me".
If Obama is smart he'll ignore most of them, let them pledge to block anything he does, pick off the easy ones and move ahead any way he can. Conservatives have announced they want no part of the process except to be obstructionist.
And they are the ones to think they can export "democracy" to other countries. They don't know what it is.