Restitutor Orbis

After eight years of cowboy diplomacy - that is to say, waving a six-shooter around drunkenly and threatening everybody in the room - it's not easy to get used to the idea of actual diplomacy, that is, a serious attempt to communicate with the others in the room and to find ways to work towards common - as well as sometimes conflicting - goals and aspirations. Rather than vacationing, Obama is working. Rather than relying on hunches and knee-jerk ideological responses, he is getting out there, mixing it up, and informing himself and others. He is, in this respect, doing exactly the right thing.

On Wednesday, Obama flew into Stansted Airport near London. From here he will begin his first major foreign trip since taking office in January. An important part of this trip will be attendance of the Group of 20 major economies this week in London. As Reuters reports, he will also attend "a NATO summit on the French-German border before stopping in the Czech Republic and Turkey" as well as "meetings on the sidelines of the G20 with the leaders of Russia, China and other nations."

It is always interesting to compare Republican rhetoric on Obama's overseas popularity - they continually paint a very negative picture, suggesting that Obama has irritated all our foreign friends - with a more fact-based analysis. For example, Reuters goes on to say:

The Democratic U.S. president hopes to capitalize on a reservoir of goodwill because of the change in policies and style from his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, who was unpopular abroad.

Analysts said enthusiasm for Obama among the public in Europe will make for a positive tone in his meetings with allies such as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

As usual, Republican rhetoric falls far short of accuracy. Obama IS popular overseas. There is great hope among our friends that times have indeed changed. It was Bush who was wildly unpopular, who offended all our friends. This attempt to re-write history, to white-wash Bush and transfer his sins onto Obama's shoulders will not succeed. People are too well informed these days via Internet news sources. The facts are always literally a button away.
Besides dealing with the economic situation, Obama is looking to rally support for his Afghanistan policy:

At the NATO summit in Strasbourg, France, the leaders will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the transatlantic alliance. In a move symbolizing closer Franco-American ties, France is rejoining NATO's military command after decades of self-imposed exile.

Obama will use the NATO summit to further explain a strategy he unveiled this week for Afghanistan that puts a strong focus as well on Pakistan. It sets as the main goal the defeat of al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

Given how far down Bush has put the US in the World's eyes, I wouldn't be surprised if this is a very hard sell. Yet he has no choice but to try. We can't punt on fourth down. We're forced to go for it and hope we get the needed yardage because there is no second chance and we can't count on getting the ball back.