Obama with foreign leaders: All business, all the time

[babylonsister]

Obama with foreign leaders: All business, all the time

By Margaret Talev | McClatchy Newspapers


PARIS_Speaking before crowds, President Barack Obama has displayed a gift for bonding personally with his listeners. One-on-one with foreign leaders, it seems to be all business all the time.

The contrast between his public oratory and his determination to project an appearance of professionalism with his counterparts was visible during the four-nation trip that ended Sunday. It puts Obama in a different class of statesmen from his immediate two predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who spoke often of their trust or affection for other world leaders.

It's winning plaudits, not only with foreign audiences and world leaders, but also at home, where his presidential rival, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and fellow Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) both have praised his style as right for the times.

His speech in Cairo to the Muslim world, some 1.5 billion people, not only reached one of the biggest audiences ever sought but may open doors after decades of misunderstanding, to judge from the first opinion polls cited by the White House. But in meetings with four heads of government or state Obama went out of his way to avoid effusiveness.

snip//

Aaron David Miller, a Mideast expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center and adviser to past secretaries of state, said that "personal relationships are critical in diplomacy and Obama has the capacity to develop them." But he said Obama's style is cooler than that of Bush, who early in his presidency said that he'd looked into then-Russian President Vladimir Putin's eyes and gotten a sense of his soul, only to be disappointed later; or Clinton, who expressed his fondness for Israel's Yitzhak Rabin and Russia's Boris Yeltsin.

"His view of personal relationships, in my judgment, is much more instrumental," Miller said of Obama. "It's not emotional when it comes to his statesmanship."

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/69609.html

[madeline_con]

1. Obama uses a more professional approach. Good. n/t

[babylonsister]

3. Excellent! I like seeing Obama, so didn't recognize that

he's been holding people at arm's length. It's good he doesn't confuse friendship with anything else, and he's always civil. What's not to like?!

[EquallyExhausted]

2. i'm glad he not looking into people's eyes, searching for their souls.

being able to keep his massage skills to himself, is much appreciated as well.

[babylonsister]

4. Massage skills! Oi, I'm appreciative, too! nt

[madeline_con]

5. Did you see Merkel's face the other day?

She looked so relieved we didn't send the Monkey Massage Boy.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[babylonsister]

6. Is this negative?I didn't think so. nt