G-20: Obama’s global debut
How did President Obama do in his big first international summit?
President Obama got both “raves” and “not-so-good reviews” for his “debut on the international stage,” said Helene Cooper in The New York Times. The “usually caustic” British press heaped “high adulation” on Obama and his wife, Michelle, for their "star turn” at the G-20 summit in London, but the media in other European countries called him aloof. He resolved a "spat” between France and China, but failed to get a global stimulus package.
In terms of diplomatic prowess, Obama is actually “living up to high expectations,” said Fred Kaplan in Slate. In his one-on-one side chats at the summit—especially his productive meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev—Obama showed a “cleareyed, even somewhat steely grasp” of international relations. After the Bush years, a return to deft diplomacy is “practically revolutionary.”
Obama’s “welcome modesty” probably helped him at the summit, said Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal, and his “freshness and persona” likely explain why the anti-capitalist protests were not, for once, also anti-American. But if Obama gets a “bounce” back home from his trip, it’s because his foreign policies—unlike his grandiose domestic plans—have a welcome “air of moderation.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published