Barack Obama Archives - Page 16 of 37 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Shades of Evil

by John Feffer | Jul 20, 2010

Who would have thought that the evil team bent on destroying the world would be composed entirely of people of color? In the imagination of Hollywood, after all, the bad guys are now white guys like the scientists gone bad in Spiderman or those jokers in Batman or the military privateers of Avatar. Occasionally, scriptwriters will dust off a rogue Russian or sprinkle a few Arab terrorists in the mix or persuade Forest Whitaker to play Idi Amin. But for the most part, post-Arendt, we now associate evil with banality, and there is nothing more banal than plain vanilla.

Worst Fears May be Realized In Iraq

by Bonnie Bricker, Adil E. Shamoo | May 25, 2010

Can you imagine that candidate Obama would have campaigned on the promise of having 125,000 personnel in Iraq by the end of summer 2010?

Postcard From…Kogelo

by Andre Vltchek | Apr 29, 2010

Since Senator Barack Obama became the president of the United States, visiting his paternal grandmother — “Mama Obama” — in her remote west Kenyan village of Kogelo became slightly more difficult. A small military camp had been built next to the access road to her house, and the compound is protected by a metal gate and security post.

Interview with Mwandawiro Mghanga

by Andre Vltchek | Apr 21, 2010

ANDRE VLTCHEK: Can you tell us something about the media coverage of Kenya? It seems to be almost exclusively negative.

MWANDAWIRO MGHANGA: The negative coverage translates to negative and hostile actions against Kenya. Up to now, the United States still has travel ban against Kenya. It is amazing Obama’s government still says that Kenya is not a safe place to travel to.

Africa Needs Strong Institutions, Not Strongmen

by Gerald LeMelle | Mar 5, 2010

President Barack Obama’s election brought jubilation to the streets of Nigeria. However, hopes for a new U.S. engagement with Africa under the Obama administration are dimming. Nigerians are rankled by two high-profile events that illustrate how U.S. foreign policy still ignores the opinions and perceptions of African people.

60-Second Expert: Africa Policy Outlook 2010

by Africa Action, Gabriela Campos, FPIF Staff | Feb 1, 2010

Obama’s first year has come and gone, and not much has changed in U.S. policy toward Africa. The next year will thus be critical for Obama and for Africa. He should take the opportunity to begin a new era in U.S.-Africa relations by putting people at the center of development and placing respect for human rights, the environment, peace, and justice at center stage.

60-Second Expert: Africa Policy Outlook 2010

by Africa Action, Gabriela Campos, FPIF Staff | Feb 1, 2010

Obama’s first year has come and gone, and not much has changed in U.S. policy toward Africa. The next year will thus be critical for Obama and for Africa. He should take the opportunity to begin a new era in U.S.-Africa relations by putting people at the center of development and placing respect for human rights, the environment, peace, and justice at center stage.

A Lesson on Nonviolence for the President

by Eric Stoner | Dec 17, 2009

In Oslo last week, President Barack Obama ironically used his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize to deliver a lengthy defense of the “just war” theory and dismiss the idea that nonviolence is capable of addressing the world’s most pressing problems.

Obama’s Surge and Pakistan

by John Feffer, Shibil Siddiqi | Dec 10, 2009

President Barack Obama recently announced an escalation of the war in Afghanistan, outlining plans to send an additional 30,000 troops. In search of an “end game,” he also declared that the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan would end in the summer of 2011, though the administration has since stated this will be a long and slowly phased withdrawal. The additional troops — even had they been the 40,000 originally requested by General Stanley McChrystal, the top American commander in Afghanistan — will be unable to score a military victory. Washington realizes that military force is not enough, particularly in the face of the loss of public support in the United States and the recent failure of democratic elections in Afghanistan. The end game will require a political settlement.

The AfPak Train Wreck

by John Feffer, Conn Hallinan | Dec 7, 2009

When President Barack Obama laid out his plan for winning the war in Afghanistan, behind him stood an army of ghosts: Greeks, Mongols, Buddhists, British, and Russians, all whom had almost the same illusions as the current resident of the Oval Office about Central Asia. The first four armies are dust. But there are Russian survivors of the 1979-89 war that ended up killing 15,000 Soviets and hundreds of thousands of Afghans as well as virtually wrecking Moscow’s economy.