[Le Temps, Switzerland]
Le Figaro, France
Obama's 'Pharaonic' Plans for His First Voyage
to Europe
"In the
same way that he intends to take advantage of the domestic crisis to
revolutionize the American social model on matters of health and energy, the
new president seems to think that he should take advantage of the many
conflicts shaking the planet to revolutionize the very basis of U.S.
relationships with many countries, such as Iran and Russia."
By Julie Connan
Translated By L. McKenzie Zeiss
Mar. 30, 2009
France - Le Figaro - Original Article
(French)
The
American president has set great objectives for his first visit to the Old
Continent.
For his first presidential
trip to [continental] Europe which begins on Wednesday, Barack Obama will
attend a meeting involving the world and its global problems. Without a doubt,
it is the uniqueness of this first great European outing of an American head of
state that arouses such hope around the planet - after the Bush-era divorce
between America and the rest of the world. For seven days, it will not only be
a question of rekindling transatlantic relations, but of finding collective
responses to the "shared challenges" confronting the world, explained
Robert Gibbs, the President’s spokesperson. The timing of the summits included
in this trip lends itself to that ambitious goal.
In London, where the American
leader is headed for the G20 summit and where he will encounter the leaders of
nations representing 85 percent of the global economy, the intention is both to
boost confidence around the world and to establish the basis for regulating the
international financial system. He will take advantage of the occasion to hold
his first bilateral talks with Russia’s Dmitri Medvedev and China’s Hu Jintao.
On the occasion of NATO’s
60th anniversary, Obama will then participate in a summit in Strasbourg-Kehl [France] intended to "revitalize" an
alliance in search of an identity, and to discuss in detail the new American
strategy in Afghanistan.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
The meeting between the E.U.
and the United States that will follow in Prague will be a chance to bring up a
number of burning questions around the world, such as nuclear proliferation,
anti-missile defense, energy security and climate change.
ALL THE WAY TO TURKEY, A
'BRIDGE' WITH ASIA
A
last stop in Turkey will allow Obama to further broaden the field of
vision of his journey. In traveling to Turkey, Barack Obama is signaling that
he's not content with merely visiting the pivotal country at the southern hub
of the Atlantic Alliance. He will show his interest in a nation that
constitutes a "bridge between Europe and Asia," as Deputy National
Security Advisor Denis McDonough explained Saturday. At the same time, this will permit Obama to
introduce America's problematic relations with Muslim countries into
the framework of his trip.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
This ambition, which might
seem Pharaonic, is not surprising for Obama. For two
months, his domestic management has revealed his desire for an interconnected
approach on these issues. In the same way that he intends to take advantage of
the domestic crisis to revolutionize the American social model on matters of
health and energy, the new president seems to think that he should take
advantage of the many conflicts shaking the planet to revolutionize the very
basis of U.S. relationships with many countries, such as Iran and Russia. It's
a question of managing urgent matters without losing sight of the long term.
It's about dealing with bilateral relations without forgetting the broader
setting.
CLICK HERE FOR FRENCH VERSION
[Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US March 31, 3:20pm]
