EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - US President Barack Obama is likely to skip this year's EU-US summit to be held by the Spanish presidency in Madrid, as he is focusing more on the domestic agenda, according to press reports. The White House has decided that Mr Obama will not attend the summit with the European Union in May, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed US officials. Barack Obama will travel less this year, as he is focusing on the economic recovery. Last year, Mr Obama went to Europe six times, as he set about establishing relations with world leaders. Now that those relationships are in place, "so the demands are somewhat different," a senior administration official told the US paper.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - US President Barack Obama is likely to skip this year's EU-US summit to be held by the Spanish presidency in Madrid, as he is focusing more on the domestic agenda, according to press reports.
The White House has decided that Mr Obama will not attend the summit with the European Union in May, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed US officials.
Barack Obama will travel less this year, as he is focusing on the economic recovery.
Last year, Mr Obama went to Europe six times, as he set about establishing relations with world leaders. Now that those relationships are in place, "so the demands are somewhat different," a senior administration official told the US paper.
Picking up on a theme I discussed earlier this week, I see that both Fred Kaplan and Matthew Yglesias conclude that a politically chastened Obama will not find any salvation in foreign policy. They both give similar reasons -- anything of significance will require Congressional approval, and Congress ain't in the giving mood. I don't really disagree with Kaplan and Yglesias, but I do think they're missing something important: with an economy shedding jobs, the last thing Obama wants to do is pump up his international profile. Even if he could claim successes, foreign policy achievements -- particularly of the non-military kind -- during an economic downturn are pretty much a dead-bang political loser. Why? Because even successes suggests that the president cares more about the rest of the world than his own countrymen. Think about it. The last time a sitting president focused on foreign affairs in the middle of a recession was George H.W. Bush. That was great from a policy perspective, but a political disaster for Bush. I won't swear to this, but my impression is that Obama's standing has taken a hit whenever he's gone overseas in the past year.
I don't really disagree with Kaplan and Yglesias, but I do think they're missing something important: with an economy shedding jobs, the last thing Obama wants to do is pump up his international profile. Even if he could claim successes, foreign policy achievements -- particularly of the non-military kind -- during an economic downturn are pretty much a dead-bang political loser. Why? Because even successes suggests that the president cares more about the rest of the world than his own countrymen.
Think about it. The last time a sitting president focused on foreign affairs in the middle of a recession was George H.W. Bush. That was great from a policy perspective, but a political disaster for Bush. I won't swear to this, but my impression is that Obama's standing has taken a hit whenever he's gone overseas in the past year.
Barack Obama has snubbed the EU amid confusion in Washington over which "president" of Europe he would be expected to meet at a trans-Atlantic summit this spring. The White House has said that the US President would not be attending the regularly scheduled EU-US talks, which have been planned to take place in Madrid in May. US officials have expressed frustration because the Lisbon Treaty, which was supposed to give the EU a single global voice, has created a number of European presidents competing for Washington's attention.
The White House has said that the US President would not be attending the regularly scheduled EU-US talks, which have been planned to take place in Madrid in May.
US officials have expressed frustration because the Lisbon Treaty, which was supposed to give the EU a single global voice, has created a number of European presidents competing for Washington's attention.
