 |
2009 was the year of Barack Obama. With his new style of politics, his spirit of optimism and last but not least with his charisma, he fascinated people around the world. His inauguration as President of the United States of America was not only accompanied by a wave of enthusiasm at home and abroad but, unfortunately, also by an avalanche of domestic and international challenges. Obama's agenda was full and loaded with troubles of many kinds: the financial and economic crisis, unemployment, the mission in Afghanistan and health care reform. Obama started to deal with each of these issues in no time. Nevertheless, it is the nature of the president’s job that not all of his decisions are popular. In Obama’s case he had to face heavy criticism in his very own country. Also internationally, people today judge the U.S. President and what he can achieve more sober-minded. All the more was it of striking symbolism that Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. For Barack Obama, an eventful first year in office has passed and also a year of a political roller coaster ride. We want to strike a balance of these exciting first twelve months of the Obama-administration. For that, we asked one of the leading American experts on political affairs, Parag Khanna, for his analysis. Khanna is publicist and director of the Global Governance Initiative of the New America Foundation. Jiffer de Bourguignon, American Hamburg-based author and political scientiest, interviewed him exclusively for our America Haus-Newsletter.
We are not only striking a balance in this newsletter, but also in our upcoming panel discussion “Barack Obama: From Messia to Every-Day Hero” at the Catholic Academy in Mülheim an der Ruhr. Three renwoned experts and transatlanticists discuss Obama’s first year as president:
Stormy Mildner of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Constanze Stelzenmüller of the German Marshall Fund and Professor Thomas Jäger from the University of Cologne.
I hope you enjoy the insight with Parag Khanna and would be delighted if you celebrated the end of the year with us on the occasion of one of our upcoming events.
Yours truthfully,
Eveline Metzen, Executive Director
|
|
Barack Obama's First Year in Office: Striking a Balance
At president Obama's inauguration the US economy was sliding down into a crisis, the American military was involved into two wars outside of the USA, approximately 40 milion Americans could not afford health care and the international prestige of the United States of America reached a new low-point. It could not have been any more difficult to take the office. In this interview US expert of foreign affairs Parag Khanna strikes a balance of the first twelve months of Obama's presidency. Read more … |
|
Parag Khanna: To Me, Germany Is An Affair of the Heart
To Parag Khanna Germany plays an important role - not only in international affairs. The American, India-born political expert built up a strong relationship to Germany, first while studying at university and later in uncountable visits both private and as a researcher. Building transatlantic bridges, what does this mean to him personally? Read more … |
Imprint
Texts: Jiffer de Bourguignon (free-lance author, Hamburg), Eveline Metzen
Editor: Eveline Metzen
Layout: Eveline Metzen, Stockheim Media GmbH
