Today, President Barack Obama arrives in Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart, Dmitri Medvedev, for a three-day summit. It will be their first face-to-face exchange since meeting in London in early April, when Obama was in Europe for the G-20 and NATO summits. After a frosty U.S.-Russian relationship during most of President George W. Bush’s term in office, this summit offers an opportunity to show Russia and the rest of the world that the new U.S. administration is serious about making a fresh start and is willing to put some substance behind that much-talked-about “reset button.”
President Obama, who expressed doubt about the legitimacy of the elections and has strongly condemned the violence, unfortunately must battle criticism on two fronts: from the Iranian government, who accuses him of meddling, and from conservative critics, who say he’s not doing enough.
The Obama administration has signaled its intention to begin discussions on comprehensive immigration reform over the coming year; crucial to that debate will be the sister issue of integration.
Report from Spencer Boyer discusses what the United States and Europe can learn from each other when it comes to integrating immigrant and minority groups into their larger societies.
If there were ever a time for the average American to pay close attention to a president’s trip to an international summit, this would be it. Hopefully, this week’s G-20 summit in London will help to turn around the ailing global economy, but also, it may remind the American people—understandably preoccupied with domestic economic woes—that we’re all in this economic mess together.
At the 45th Munich conference on security policy in February, vice-president Joe Biden reminded America's European allies that the United States is ready to listen again. Referring to President Barack Obama's strategic review of US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan in advance of Nato's 60th anniversary summit, Biden noted: "We seek ideas and input from you and all of our partners."
Now that the inaugural celebrations are over, we’ve moved into that difficult phase of the presidency called governing. To say that President Barack Obama faces unprecedented challenges is practically an understatement. At the very least, he faces greater challenges than any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt. On the international front alone, he must grapple with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a global financial meltdown, a sullied American reputation, an explosive situation in the Middle East, an aggressive Russia and a defiant Iran. And those are only a few of the more urgent items.
The international conflict between Russia and Georgia over the status of Georgia's breakaway territory of South Ossetia rightly brought about hand-wringing from a war-weary international community. The crisis has already caused a humanitarian catastrophe in which thousands have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced in and around South Ossetia.
The Constitutional Court's decision not to disband the Justice and Development Party will show the world it's serious about democracy, write Boyer and Katulis.
