|
When he took office in 2008, President Obama promised to improve strained relationships with European countries. On a trip to Europe shortly after his election, President Obama was treated like a star and began to bring some European leaders around to his agenda. He has since, however, focused more attention on the Middle East and Asia, leaving some Europeans to wonder where they stand on the list of America's priorities.
Obama revisits his Irish roots
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
The Irish city of Moneygall prepares for President Barack Obama's historic visit. |
|
|
President Obama’s first stop was Ireland, where residents celebrated the fact that America's first black president is part Irish.
He met with the Irish president and prime minister and addressed a large crowd in the country’s capital, Dublin, joking that his name should be spelled O’bama to better reflect his Irish heritage. "My name is Barack Obama of the Moneygall Obamas, and I've come home to find the apostrophe that we lost somewhere along the way," he said.
In 2008, a researcher traced President Obama's mother's family to the Irish town of Moneygall.
He also planted a tree next to the one planted a week earlier by England’s Queen Elizabeth II on her first-ever state visit to Ireland and drank a pint of Irish beer with the townspeople, some of whom may be his distant relatives.
Following his stop in Ireland, President Obama heads to London, where he will attend a state dinner at Buckingham Palace and meet with British leaders and diplomats.
G-8 summit will focus on Arab uprisings
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
The recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, commonly known as the "Arab Spring," will top the agenda of this year’s G-8 economic summit. |
|
|
After visiting Britain, President Obama will head across the English Channel to Deauville, France, where he will attend the G-8 economic summit. The G-8, which stands for Group of Eight, comprises the world's leading industrialized nations: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, commonly known as the "Arab Spring," will top the agenda of this year’s meeting. President Obama will reportedly ask the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to lend money to Egypt and Tunisia. Both countries are in states of upheaval after their dictators were ousted by protesters months ago.
A diplomatic challenge in Poland
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Mr. Obama will pay his respects to Poland's late president, Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash in 2010. |
|
|
Finally, President Obama will head to Warsaw, Poland, where he will meet with leaders to discuss Eastern Europe’s role in NATO and in the campaigns in Afghanistan and Libya. He will also commemorate Poland’s late president, Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash last year.
According to some analysts, the stop in Poland could prove to be the biggest diplomatic challenge of the trip for President Obama, since Poland and many of its Eastern European neighbors are wary of America's attempts to “re-set” relations with Russia. Most of Eastern Europe was once part of the Soviet Union, which included Russia, and the countries that gained independence from Moscow decades ago are on shaky diplomatic terms with the former communist nation.
|
Joplin was able to rise from the ashes because of help from everyone. And I am eternally grateful to anyone who made that possible.
