Barack Obama’s inaugural address was not an event witnessed by Americans alone. On his first day in office, President Obama has been calling leaders in the Middle East. Opposition to the war in Iraq was a major factor in Barack Obama’s campaign and his election. And despite the friendship between George Bush and Britain’s Tony Blair, US relations with Western Europe took a dive during the past 8 years. Barack Obama is an African-American, but he’s not the descendent of slaves. His father was a highly educated civic leader in Kenya who came to the US for higher education. There was no reference to Latin America—not even to Mexico, where President Obama will be faced with increasingly rampant drug and gun smuggling, and where the economic crisis could drive more immigrants northward.
The World Embraces President Obama
Credits
Guests:
- Martin Savidge - Anchor, Worldfocus
- Alissa Johannsen Rubin - New York Times - @alissanyt
- Ghassan Khatib - Birzeit University - @ghassankhatib
- Efraim Inbar - Director, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies
- Philip Stevens - Associate Editor, Financial Times
- Daudi Were - Founder, KenyaUnlimited.com