Tag Archives: foreign policy

President Obama recognizes the start of Ramadan

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Obama at Last Years Ramadan Event

Obama at Last Year's Ramadan Event

The President spoke on the Muslim celebration of the Month of Ramadan on Wednesday, in this release from the White House.

President Obama recognized the celebration as a time when Muslims around the world get together as a family, and focus on devotion, reflection, and prayer.

“These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings,” President Obama said. “Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality. And here in the United States, Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country.”

America.gov has more resources on the Month of Ramadan here. The U.S. Treasury also recently released a statement about its action to protect charitable giving here, and Secretary Clinton also made remarks here. I wish a blessed month to all those who celebrate Ramadan!

The President’s Forum with Young African Leaders kicks off in Washington, DC

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On Tuesday I had the privilege of helping out at The President’s Forum with Young African Leaders, a meeting of 115 bright minds and future leaders of Africa hosted in Washington, DC. The conference, in part, acknowledges the 50 years of independence that 17 sub-Saharan African nations celebrate this year. The forum gives the African delegates and U.S. officials the opportunity to get together and discuss the future of the African continent, and how they can cooperate to make the hopes and ambitions of Young Africans for the future a reality.

During the hours that I spent helping to guide the delegates to their meetings and discussions at the Department of State, I was struck by the enthusiasm, friendliness, and frankness with which they approached the event and interacted with each other. Despite traveling as long as 48 hours to the U.S., they seemed brimming with energy. The group included delegates from many different backgrounds and professions, all of whom shared a common passion for the future of Africa and their own countries.

It was also clear that they were excited to meet with President Barack Obama at a town hall meeting later that day: really excited.

During the meeting the delegates were able to ask the President questions face-to-face. The topics discussed included economy, corruption, fighting HIV/AIDS, and the role of the U.S. in supporting and encouraging African development.

The President addressed the issues raised and didn’t overlook some of the major difficulties facing many regions in Africa. “Across Africa today, there’s no denying the daily hardships that are faced by so many,” the President noted. “The struggle to feed their children, to find work, to survive another day. And too often, that’s the Africa that the world sees.”

However, the President stressed his optimism that Africa has the potential and the promise to emerge as a region of growth and innovation. “Today, you represent a different vision, a vision of Africa on the move…” the President said. “An Africa that’s ending old conflicts… an Africa that’s pursuing a broadband revolution that could transform the daily lives of future generations.”

The President, in his remarks before the question-and-answer session, specifically mentioned some of the delegates in the forum by name, and their accomplishments. He noted that young leaders like them would be the ones who lead Africa to further development, saying “yes, youth can!” A full transcript of Obama’s remarks and the question-and-answer discussion is available here, and a video is available here.

I really enjoyed getting to meet the delegates, and wish them all the best with their remaining time in Washington. Their enthusiasm gives me a lot of optimism for the future of Africa, and the administration’s engagement with them shows that the U.S. is a strong partner and friend.

Obama Greeting Delegates

Obama’s multilateral approach to foreign policy

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Just days after Election Day, I wrote this article in which political analysts predicted Barack Obama would seek a multilateral approach to foreign policy. “There will be a different way of dealing with the international community,” one expert said at the time.

Almost a year into his presidency, experts are noting that Obama has indeed taken a multilateral approach by working more cooperatively with nations.

“One of the most important things the president has done…” is “to reshape the tone of American foreign policy by emphasizing the fact that we need the cooperation of other countries and we need to use international institutions, including the U.N.,” Ambassador Rust Deming, a retired Foreign Service officer who served as a senior adviser in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told America.gov.

What do you think of President Obama’s first year of foreign policy?

President Obama: the anti-nuclear activist-in-chief

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You may have noticed that President Obama is not a fan of nuclear weapons. At a speech in Prague this past April he called for their abolition. He has been working with Russia to reduce the number of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons and launchers. And he has also been trying to prevent Iran and North Korea from developing nuclear weapons of their own.

Today marked another indication that nuclear nonproliferation is a huge priority of the Obama administration when the president called a summit meeting of the United Nations Security Council and became the first U.S. head of state to ever chair the body. It was also only the fifth time the Security Council has met at the head of state level since its formation in 1946. The first was held in 1992 to discuss the dissolution of the former Soviet Union.

Can you guess what the topic was today?

What President Obama and the other heads of state achieved from this summit was the first U.N. Security Council resolution calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and which sets out a broad framework on how to reduce nuclear dangers in pursuit of that goal.

The spread and use of nuclear weapons is a “fundamental threat to the security of all peoples and all nations,” Obama said. If one nuclear weapon exploded in a major world city, it would kill thousands, and “it would badly destabilize our security, our economies, and our very way of life.”

The president said every country has the right to peaceful nuclear energy, but those which already have nuclear weapons “have the responsibility to move toward disarmament,” and those who don’t “have the responsibility to forsake them.”

What do you think? Is a world without nuclear weapons achievable? How can this goal become a reality?

Diplomats take a close look at the Democratic Convention

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Democrats are not the only people in Denver for the Democratic National Convention. Thanks to the help from the National Democratic Institute, nearly 500 foreign dignitaries are getting to observe the presidential nomination process up close. They have met with political leaders, visited the convention site and attended panels examining the future direction of American foreign policy.

NDI participant Khasbazaryn Bekhbat, Mongolia’s ambassador to the United States, said he enjoyed seeing the excitement in the convention hall, which he described as an impressive spectacle.

Like people in many countries around the world, Mongolians are following the presidential election closely, Bekhbat said. “We attach great importance to our relationship with the USA.” Mongolians hope that no matter who wins the election, the next administration will continue that relationship.

Bekhbat will also be visiting St. Paul, Minnesota, which hosts the Republican National Convention beginning September 1.