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St. Louis Post-Dispatch
March 28 2009
Obama heading to Europe
By Steven Thomma
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
03/28/2009
WASHINGTON ' They gave him their hearts when he visited last
summer. Now, the question hanging over Europe is how much more they'll
give Barack Obama as he returns for the first time as president of the
United States.
Obama leaves Tuesday on a whirlwind eight-day tour. He remains
enormously popular in Europe, and the throngs that greeted him last
year as a candidate are likely to grow. With first lady Michelle Obama
along, Obamas' debut on the world stage as president already is
inspiring anticipation of the kind of rock-star reception that greeted
John and Jackie Kennedy on their first trip as first couple to Europe
in 1961.
Yet Obama also heads into his first overseas trip with grand goals -
looking to forge a coordinated global response to the economic crisis,
hoping Europe will send more of its sons and daughters to help in an
escalating war in Afghanistan, and seeking to restore international
cooperation that he thinks suffered in the years under President
George W. Bush.
That will be a tough sell. Publicly, European and world leaders will
embrace Obama. But privately, they are likely to say no to some of his
requests, most notably sending combat troops to Afghanistan, or simply
avoid the subject.
"He remains a superstar in European public opinion," said Reginald
Dale, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,
a centrist research organization. Dale noted that Europeans have even
more trust in Obama than Americans do, according to a recent poll by
the Financial Times newspaper.
"European leaders want to be seen next to Obama, preferably with
... his arms around their shoulders and a big smile, because he's so
popular in Europe. And nobody's going to try and raise awkward
subjects with him."
Perhaps, but those subjects will be unavoidable as Obama heads first
to the United Kingdom, then on to France, Germany, the Czech Republic
and Turkey.
UNITED KINGDOM
His first stop will be at the G-20, a group of 19 major economic
powers, plus the European Union, meeting in London.
Obama already has been pushing them for more government spending to
stimulate the global economy, as he's doing at home. Many European
countries, however, instead are emphasizing tougher regulation of the
financial system.
"Even the European Union itself is balking," said Nile Gardiner, a
scholar at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research
organization. "I think we are going to see a significant transatlantic
divide emerging at the G-20 between the U.S. position of massive
stimulus spending and European opposition to that."
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek of the Czech Republic, the current EU
president, ripped last week Obama's free spending approach as a "road
to hell." But his own opposition party pushes for stimulus spending,
and recently it passed a vote of no confidence in his government.
FRANCE AND GERMANY
Obama next will attend a meeting of NATO in Strasbourg, France, and
Baden-Baden, Germany.
Officially, the meeting will mark the 60th anniversary of the
alliance. Unofficially, the war in Afghanistan will dominate the
meeting as the United States asks for help.
"President Obama will probably not have much luck in obtaining
additional combat forces," said Stephen Flanagan, a scholar at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies. "There just isn't the
willingness on the part of most of the European allies to do that
right now."
CZECH REPUBLIC
In Prague, Obama will attend a meeting of the EU.
One likely topic will be the U.S. commitment to deploy a missile
defense system in the Czech Republic, as the Bush administration
proposed. Ostensibly aimed at protecting against missile launches from
Iran, the system also is seen as a defense against Russia ' but Moscow
sees it as an insult and a threat.
"If Obama withdraws on missile defense, which he seems to be doing,
then he is going to leave the Czech and Polish governments out there
hanging in the wind," said Dale of CSIS. "They went to great lengths
to reach agreement on ... basing those facilities there, even though
their public opinions were largely against it."
One potential result: remain vaguely committed to the missile defense
while continuing a review of the policy. The challenge: doing it in a
way that assures the Czechs and Poles that they're not being strung
along and convincing the world that the Obama administration isn't
caving in to pressure from Russia.
TURKEY
Obama will visit Ankara and Istanbul before turning homeward.
Though this isn't the site of Obama's promised speech reaching out to
the Muslim world ' that will come later in a still-unidentified Muslim
capital ' Turkey is a Muslim country.
"Obama will start with a great advantage when he gets to Turkey,
because his name is not George Bush. He was extremely unpopular in
Turkey, as well as in the Islamic world," said Bulent Aliriza, the
director of the Turkey Project at CSIS.
"There's a sense of goodwill towards the U.S. and particularly towards
President Obama ... the entire Islamic world will be watching the
speech he will be making at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in
Ankara."
Also, Obama will be pressed to speak out on whether Turkey committed
genocide against Armenians from 1915 to 1923. Armenians want the
recognition; Turkey maintains the dead were victims of war, not
genocide.
As a candidate, Obama promised the recognition as he appealed for
Armenian-American support. But as president, he needs Turkish support,
for the war in Afghanistan and other issues.
The Turkish government doesn't expect Obama to risk a diplomatic
incident by using the word "genocide." After visiting with White House
officials recently, Ahmet Davutoglu, the top foreign policy adviser to
the Turkish prime minister, said, "We don't anticipate anything
negative."
http://www.stltoday.com/ stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/78A060CB803 BBDD08625758700103BE6?OpenDocument
March 28 2009
Obama heading to Europe
By Steven Thomma
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
03/28/2009
WASHINGTON ' They gave him their hearts when he visited last
summer. Now, the question hanging over Europe is how much more they'll
give Barack Obama as he returns for the first time as president of the
United States.
Obama leaves Tuesday on a whirlwind eight-day tour. He remains
enormously popular in Europe, and the throngs that greeted him last
year as a candidate are likely to grow. With first lady Michelle Obama
along, Obamas' debut on the world stage as president already is
inspiring anticipation of the kind of rock-star reception that greeted
John and Jackie Kennedy on their first trip as first couple to Europe
in 1961.
Yet Obama also heads into his first overseas trip with grand goals -
looking to forge a coordinated global response to the economic crisis,
hoping Europe will send more of its sons and daughters to help in an
escalating war in Afghanistan, and seeking to restore international
cooperation that he thinks suffered in the years under President
George W. Bush.
That will be a tough sell. Publicly, European and world leaders will
embrace Obama. But privately, they are likely to say no to some of his
requests, most notably sending combat troops to Afghanistan, or simply
avoid the subject.
"He remains a superstar in European public opinion," said Reginald
Dale, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,
a centrist research organization. Dale noted that Europeans have even
more trust in Obama than Americans do, according to a recent poll by
the Financial Times newspaper.
"European leaders want to be seen next to Obama, preferably with
... his arms around their shoulders and a big smile, because he's so
popular in Europe. And nobody's going to try and raise awkward
subjects with him."
Perhaps, but those subjects will be unavoidable as Obama heads first
to the United Kingdom, then on to France, Germany, the Czech Republic
and Turkey.
UNITED KINGDOM
His first stop will be at the G-20, a group of 19 major economic
powers, plus the European Union, meeting in London.
Obama already has been pushing them for more government spending to
stimulate the global economy, as he's doing at home. Many European
countries, however, instead are emphasizing tougher regulation of the
financial system.
"Even the European Union itself is balking," said Nile Gardiner, a
scholar at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research
organization. "I think we are going to see a significant transatlantic
divide emerging at the G-20 between the U.S. position of massive
stimulus spending and European opposition to that."
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek of the Czech Republic, the current EU
president, ripped last week Obama's free spending approach as a "road
to hell." But his own opposition party pushes for stimulus spending,
and recently it passed a vote of no confidence in his government.
FRANCE AND GERMANY
Obama next will attend a meeting of NATO in Strasbourg, France, and
Baden-Baden, Germany.
Officially, the meeting will mark the 60th anniversary of the
alliance. Unofficially, the war in Afghanistan will dominate the
meeting as the United States asks for help.
"President Obama will probably not have much luck in obtaining
additional combat forces," said Stephen Flanagan, a scholar at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies. "There just isn't the
willingness on the part of most of the European allies to do that
right now."
CZECH REPUBLIC
In Prague, Obama will attend a meeting of the EU.
One likely topic will be the U.S. commitment to deploy a missile
defense system in the Czech Republic, as the Bush administration
proposed. Ostensibly aimed at protecting against missile launches from
Iran, the system also is seen as a defense against Russia ' but Moscow
sees it as an insult and a threat.
"If Obama withdraws on missile defense, which he seems to be doing,
then he is going to leave the Czech and Polish governments out there
hanging in the wind," said Dale of CSIS. "They went to great lengths
to reach agreement on ... basing those facilities there, even though
their public opinions were largely against it."
One potential result: remain vaguely committed to the missile defense
while continuing a review of the policy. The challenge: doing it in a
way that assures the Czechs and Poles that they're not being strung
along and convincing the world that the Obama administration isn't
caving in to pressure from Russia.
TURKEY
Obama will visit Ankara and Istanbul before turning homeward.
Though this isn't the site of Obama's promised speech reaching out to
the Muslim world ' that will come later in a still-unidentified Muslim
capital ' Turkey is a Muslim country.
"Obama will start with a great advantage when he gets to Turkey,
because his name is not George Bush. He was extremely unpopular in
Turkey, as well as in the Islamic world," said Bulent Aliriza, the
director of the Turkey Project at CSIS.
"There's a sense of goodwill towards the U.S. and particularly towards
President Obama ... the entire Islamic world will be watching the
speech he will be making at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in
Ankara."
Also, Obama will be pressed to speak out on whether Turkey committed
genocide against Armenians from 1915 to 1923. Armenians want the
recognition; Turkey maintains the dead were victims of war, not
genocide.
As a candidate, Obama promised the recognition as he appealed for
Armenian-American support. But as president, he needs Turkish support,
for the war in Afghanistan and other issues.
The Turkish government doesn't expect Obama to risk a diplomatic
incident by using the word "genocide." After visiting with White House
officials recently, Ahmet Davutoglu, the top foreign policy adviser to
the Turkish prime minister, said, "We don't anticipate anything
negative."
http://www.stltoday.com/ stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/78A060CB803 BBDD08625758700103BE6?OpenDocument