The global press output about Obama’s inauguration remains huge. The global financial crisis is also an issue of great interest but most of the pieces that are tackling that are also about Obama’s power, or lack of power, to do anything about it.
Moreover, the inauguration, and indeed the very idea of Obama, provide a single reference point that seems to help explicate differences among political cultures around the world. For example, Russian and Chinese output on Obama has a particularly distinct “flavor”.
A selected few foreign articles follow – translations at the top and content originally written in English at the bottom.
Yezhednevni Journal, Russia
Freedom and Non-Freedom
It was a display of freedom, plain and simple. These hundreds of thousands of people, standing as equals.
Moheet, Egypt
Egypt and a Conspiring Agreement
Sina, China
Obama Hopes Soft Power Will Restore U.S.
Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland
The White House Would Be Cool
Farda News, Iran
Obama Orders Halt to Laws Issued by the Bush Administration
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Russia
Will Obama Rebuild International Agreement?
China Review News, Taiwan
The Obama Whirlwind Will Create A Win-Win-Win for U.S., China and Taiwan
Gandul, Romania
Obamerica
Barack Obama is a Grand Catalyst – God help us that he won’t be taken by others, or himself, as anything other than that.
NRC Handelsblad, The Netherlands
And the Rest of the World…
The days of being able to have champagne taste on a beer budget are gone.
Le Monde, France
Behind Obama Mania
Bild Zeitung, Germany
What Can We Learn From Obama?
Le Figaro, France
At Last The Difficulties Begin
Le Figaro, France
For Sarkozy, an American “Buddy” Who Will Be a Rival
Financial Times Deutschland, Germany
No Reason for Obama to Hurry
El Pais, Uruguay
The Conclusion
Les Echos, France
The Prohibited Failure
The same sense of urgency, the same prohibition of failure lives in Barack Obama. He must succeed at his New Deal, of course for the United States, but also for the rest of the world.
La Prensa, Honduras
New Era in the United States
The Moscow Times, Russia
How Russians Interpret Obama
The St. Petersburg Times, Russia
Starting Fresh with Obama
The Independent, U.K.
Bush’s ‘Puppet in Kabul’ Will Not Go Quietly
The Guardian, U.K.
Guantanamo Closure Marks Pivotal Turn
Pravda, Russia
Obama Embodies Grand Failure of Great Hopes
The Times, U.K.
Hurdles Between Obama and a Third Oath
The Telegraph, U.K.
Obama May Keep Gordon Brown Waiting
The Jerusalem Post, Israel
From Bush to Obama
Yedioth Ahronot , Israel
Wishing You Good Luck, Mr. President
On behalf of seven million Israelis, Eitan Haber welcomes new the President of Free World to the White House
The Saudi Gazette, Saudi Arabia
Obama’s Middle East Agenda
The Belfast Telegraph, Ireland
We Won’t Be at the Top of Obama’s Packed In-tray
The Belfast Telegraph, Ireland
Over 40 and Fab, Michelle Is Role Model For Women
Pravda, Russia
Eight Years of Bush: It’s Over at Last
RIA Novosti, Russia
Obama’s Day and Martin Luther King’s Day
St. Petersburg Times, Russia
Obama’s Rescue Plan Is Doomed to Fail
If Obama wants to go down in history as having saved his country from the economic crisis, it will not be enough to simply spend enormous sums of money.
St. Petersburg Times, Russia
Starting Fresh with Obama
Zimbabwe Independent, Zimbabwe
Swish, Obama and the Terrorists
President Obama’s inauguration increases the likelihood of a major terrorist attack in the United States.
The Daily Nation, Kenya
Obama Has Shown Kenyans The Way; Now Let’s Follow His Path
The Daily Nation, Kenya
Fragile Peace Beckons
The Tripoli Post, Libya
American Politicians and Complicity to Murder
The Jamaica Observer, Jamaica
God Bless America
The Jamaica Observer, Jamaica
Can Obama Walk The Talk?
The Standard, Hong Kong
Give Bush Some Credit
People’s Daily, China
Obama to Pursue Pragmatic Foreign Policy
Robin Koerner is a British-born citizen of the USA, who currently serves as Academic Dean of the John Locke Institute. He holds graduate degrees in both Physics and the Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge (U.K.). He is also the founder of WatchingAmerica.com, an organization of over 100 volunteers that translates and posts in English views about the USA from all over the world.
Robin may be best known for having coined the term “Blue Republican” to refer to liberals and independents who joined the GOP to support Ron Paul’s bid for the presidency in 2012 (and, in so doing, launching the largest coalition that existed for that candidate).
Robin’s current work as a trainer and a consultant, and his book If You Can Keep It , focus on overcoming distrust and bridging ideological division to improve politics and lives. His current project, Humilitarian, promotes humility and civility as a basis for improved political discourse and outcomes.