President Obama has made a dramatic impression as an international leader this week, first at the G-20 Summit in London, then at the NATO summit in France, and in his meetings with individual leaders of the various nations, as he continues his week long tour in Europe.
He has been invited to Russia and China later this year, and has developed warm relationships with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.Â
He has also condemned European expressions of anti Americanism in the past, but also admitted that the United States in recent years has been at times arrogant and overbearing in its foreign policy toward the rest of the world. So he balanced criticism of foreign nations and their response to America with the admission of shortcomings on our part, particularly during the administration of George W. Bush.
He has become as popular in Europe and the general world community as he is at home in the United States. And his wife, Michelle, has become the equivalent of a rock star, on the level of the late Princess Diana and the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the past.Â
Obama has gained the respect and admiration of many people in America, even those who originally opposed him but now see the virtues of this young President who is having a tremendous impact on America and the world.