The independent Russian media is certainly not dead. That is the only conclusion one can draw of this editorial comparison of the leadership styles of President-elect Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, from the Russian newspaper, Gazeta. The Gazeta editorial not only praises the stake that average Americans have in the political life of the U.S., it frontally attacks recent electoral reforms in Russia that are designed to have the completely opposite effect in their country. Pointing...

One of the more rewarding things about showing Americans what the rest of the world thinks about our nation, is to introduce people to newspapers that they would never ordinarily be able to read. For example, how many Americans have ever read a newspaper from the civil-war stricken Portuguese-speaking country of Angola? This article by Altino Matos of the Jornal de Angola has an interesting take on the election of Barack Obama. While it suggests that the ‘American Media Machine’ chose...

‘We are All Americans.’ Most of us recall that phrase used by the French the day after September 11, 2001. After all of the events of the past eight years and the deterioration of America’s image, few would have predicted hearing it again. But we are. Since the election of President-elect Obama, I have personally seen the phrase in at least three articles we have posted from around the world. This article from Brazil’s Folha is not only an article of adulation for Barack...

Here’s a new take on Obama’s election as president from none other than China’s state-controlled media. According to this op-ed from China’s strictly-controlled Global Geographic Weekly, Obama’s victory is a ‘color revolution’ – similar to those promoted by the Bush Administration in Ukraine and Georgia. The unsigned article says in part: “The U.S. presidential election, watched so closely by the entire world, has finally given us its result....

As promised earlier, presented below is the ‘Manifesto for True Equality’ which is now making the rounds in France and was triggered by the election of President-elect Obama. The Manifesto has the active backing of French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who penned this article, ‘We Must Help Our Elites Embrace Change’, which WORLDMEETS.US posted earlier in the day. The Manifesto says in part: “The election of Barack Obama exposes, through cruel contrast, the shortcomings...

The word progressive has an interesting and storied history, and according to this article, in Obama’s victory, the word and its meaning have been snatched back by the left, from the right – who had “stolen” it from them. For France’s Liberation, Laurent Joffrin writes in part: “The election of Barack Obama has another meaning just as decisive to our fate. Since the 1980s, the progressives of the planet have been on the defensive. The forces of individualism and...

BERLUSCONI: ‘Young, beautiful and tanned is a compliment.’ OBAMA: Yeah, so is ‘Old Jerk’! [Courrier International, France] The ripples of Barack Obama’s rise continue to be felt across the world. In France, a petition calling for major changes in how French and Europeans think of race – and a call to forcibly open up the political process – is circulating. And France’s first lady, former ‘super model’ Carla Bruni-Sarkozy – a former...

As far as the Arab world is concerned, Obama’s election has brought cautious optimism. But there is another narrative that has been emerging that Moderate Voice readers may have noticed if you have been following our recent posts from the Arab world. Over the weekend, from Le Quotidien d’Oran of Algeria, we posted Obama: Dreams and Reality for Arabs, which said in part: “It is said that in the first few months of his presidency, America’s new head of state plans an address to...

Now that Barack Obama Junior is safely America’s president-to-be, his stepmother has decided to speak to the press about her courtship and relationship with Barack Obama Senior. According to this interview with Grace Keziah Obama from Kenya’s Standard newspaper, the father of our President elect was quite a lady killer and, ‘He liked fun and loved good things. Which is why I wasn’t surprised when I heard that he had married a second wife in the U.S.’ She is referring,...

As much as anyone, I appreciate the praise that is being heaped on our nation because of our recent electoral behavior. But at times it’s enough to make one blush – and wonder if it’s the same campaign I recall witnessing. Magdalena Sroda of Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza says in part: “There were no personal files abused, no insinuations from the secret service, no private mutual resentments, no mutual hatreds. If there were any, they were deeply and skillfully hidden. The...

Last week I posted an article from Iraq with the headline, Election of Obama a Chance to ‘Offset’ Iranian Influence. Continuing our coverage of Iraqi reaction to Obama’s election, today we have an article by Khadir Taahar, which is from the same newspaper, Kitabat. Readers of the Moderate Voice will recognize his name, since this is the tenth article the people of WORLDMEETS.US have translated by this author. In today’s article, Taahar warns his compatriots that they had...

Here are a few Sunday morning headlines about the United States – translated and otherwise – from the world’s newspapers: Some tough admissions for France, the ‘land of human rights’: Le Figaro, France Obama’s Lesson to the French France’s political parties are retooling after Obama’s high-tech victory: Le Monde, France French Parties ‘All Draw Inspiration’ from Obama Win One of Algeria’s leading columnists warns Arabs not to get...

Is there anyone left out there wondering of the the rest of this planet sees America in a new light after President-elect Obama’s victory? This article by the great Christian Merville of Lebanon’s L’Orient Le Jour is particularly eloquent – and ends much more cold-eyed than this paragraph in the beginning might lead one to believe. And demonstrating the incredible change in perceptions, it has the same refrain as the famed Le Monde front page of September 12, 2001: “A...

Despite the saber rattling of Russian President Medvedev the day after Senator Obama’s election as president, one shouldn’t get the impression that Russians haven’t been moved by the meaning and symbolism of his rise to prominence. In fact, according to this editorial from Vedomosti, one of Russia’s leading business dailies, the reality of a President-elect Obama is a strong signal to Europeans and Russians that it’s time to get with the program – and confront...

OBAMA STANDS NEXT TO A CAR LABELED ‘IRAQ’ POINTING TO THE CAR, THE IRAQI MAN SAYS TO OBAMA: ‘THAT IS WHAT YOUR PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION DID. WE’VE BEEN SUFFERING FOR FIVE YEARS. CAN YOU FIX IT?!’ [Sotal Iraq, Iraq] Continuing our journalistic journey around the world, below is an op-ed article from Iraq’s Kitabat newspaper on the likely ramifications for Iraq of Senator Obama’s election victory. Some surprising conclusions of the author, Akil Al Azrak, are...

The tidal wave of global reaction to the election of President-elect Barack Obama is enough to make a foreign desk editor cry over what to do next. Coming later today will be articles from Russia and Iraq. Here are just a few of the many stories posted on WORLDMEETS.US in the past 24 hours: 24 Heures, Switzerland A Man, a Destiny, a World: The Best of America EXCERPT: “The arrival today of the first man of color to the apex of power in the only global superpower testifies to the logic of...

For many people in the less-developed world, America, through the agency of Barack Obama – has lived up to its promise. Furthermore, the very poorest of the world’s people are today saying to themselves, ‘perhaps I can go further and farther than I thought.’ And according to this article from Venezuela’s El Diario de Yaracuy, the fact that Americans elected a Black man shows that the world at large has a much bigger problem with racism that the United States does. For...

The global reaction to Obama’s election triumph isn’t all, as they say ‘kittens and rainbows.’ This article from Poland’s Rzeczpospolita is in the form of a warning to the European left, that while Obama may be easier to deal with, much more sensitive the finer points of diplomatic exchange and a better listener that the widely-derided President Bush – he will still be the leader of the free world, and will expect and perhaps deserve more support from his European...

The global reaction to the news that Barack Obama has been elected president is like a tidal wave. So far this morning, WORLDMEETS.US has posted about 30 articles from around the world – and the work of translating has only just begun. One of the most moving tributes is this editorial from France’s Liberation, which says in part: “Hope, at Last! For Heaven’s sake, for one hour, for one day, let’s not behave like blasé, cautious skeptics. After this already historic November...

First out of the gate are the British – as always. This is what WORLDMEETS.US has posted thusfar: This editorial from Britain’s Guardian is an unadulterated congratulation to the American people. It says in part: “They did it. They really did it. So often crudely caricatured by others, the American people yesterday stood in the eye of history and made an emphatic choice for change for themselves and the world. … Today is for celebration, for happiness and for reflected human...

What a moment. What a country. What a time to be alive and to be an American. These are the initial opinions being expressed from around the world that have been posted on WORLDMEETS.US: A very moving testament to the meaning of Obama’s victory from Canada: National Post, Canada ‘A Divide Has Been Crossed’ ANALYSIS on the ramifications for Britain: BBC NEWS, UK What Obama’s Victory Means for Great Britain A hint of concern about whether transatlantic relations will improve...

It’s going to be a long and interesting night. WORLDMEETS.US will be covering the global reaction to the U.S. election every step of the way. We are keeping a particularly keen eye on Kenya and Indonesia. Here are some initial headlines: The Standard, Kenya Kenyans Await Obama’s Historic Election Victory The Standard, Kenya Mama Sarah: ‘No Need for Early Celebrations’ The Daily Nation, Kenya Lessons for Africa from the American Election The Daily Nation, Kenya Obama About...

One of the most historic, gut wrenching and globally-important U.S. elections ever is finally drawing to a close, and along with Americans, the world, too, is summing up what it all means. And the one underlying and inescapable narrative is this: That the most powerful nation on earth appears ready to look past the issue of race and – on the merits of character and capability – elect Senator Barack Obama as President. For France’s Le Figaro newspaper, Dominique Moisi writes in...

Somewhat lost in the shuffle these past few days [for obvious reasons] is how the U.S. attack on Syrian territory last week may be imperiling a long-term security agreement between Iraq and the United States. With much of the Arab world in uproar over the U.S. incursion from bases inside Iraq, we translated this article from the Iraqi News Agency, which is a statement by the influential Sunni group, The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq. Keep in mind that the recent calm in Iraq was achieved...

At the moment, the nation of Venezuela, governed [or ruled] by Bush’s arch-enemy Hugo Chavez, is one of America’s top suppliers of crude oil. So what do Venezuelans think an Obama presidency would be like? For Venezuela’s opposition-friendly newspaper El Universal, Antonio A. Herrera-Vaillant writes about, among other things, the oil issue and immigration: “Obama will look for a way to liberate his economy from the tyranny of oil, even at the cost of his own automotive and...