Jonathan Martin: Obama ... Bush-era diplomacy is over
[Jonathan Martin is a Politico reporter.]
Barack Obama devoted much of his inaugural speech and first few days in office to repudiating his predecessor - and it was no different Wednesday when he set foot on the world stage for the first time.
On a day of dizzying diplomacy with three world powers, Obama made one thing clear: The Bush era of foreign policy is over.
In strokes of symbolism and on issues of substance, the president’s international debut was starkly different from the approach America’s allies and adversaries grew to know — and often bitterly complain about — over the past eight years.
Gone was diplomacy by towel-snapping, Bush’s effort to kindle bilateral relationships as much through chummy asides and the occasional shoulder-rub as by serious policy discussion.
Instead, Obama officials emphasized just how sober their sessions had been.
Cognizant of Bush’s much-mocked 2001 pronouncement that he had peered into Vladimir Putin’s soul upon first meeting the hard-line Russian premier, Obama officials went to great lengths to focus on just how impersonal the president’s visit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had been.
It was a "constant strategy on the Bush administration's part, to develop this personal rapport,” noted a senior Obama administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Our strategy is to develop an agenda based on interest ... not to make the goal of these meetings to develop some kind of buddy-buddy relationship [with Russia]."..
Read entire article at Politico
Barack Obama devoted much of his inaugural speech and first few days in office to repudiating his predecessor - and it was no different Wednesday when he set foot on the world stage for the first time.
On a day of dizzying diplomacy with three world powers, Obama made one thing clear: The Bush era of foreign policy is over.
In strokes of symbolism and on issues of substance, the president’s international debut was starkly different from the approach America’s allies and adversaries grew to know — and often bitterly complain about — over the past eight years.
Gone was diplomacy by towel-snapping, Bush’s effort to kindle bilateral relationships as much through chummy asides and the occasional shoulder-rub as by serious policy discussion.
Instead, Obama officials emphasized just how sober their sessions had been.
Cognizant of Bush’s much-mocked 2001 pronouncement that he had peered into Vladimir Putin’s soul upon first meeting the hard-line Russian premier, Obama officials went to great lengths to focus on just how impersonal the president’s visit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had been.
It was a "constant strategy on the Bush administration's part, to develop this personal rapport,” noted a senior Obama administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Our strategy is to develop an agenda based on interest ... not to make the goal of these meetings to develop some kind of buddy-buddy relationship [with Russia]."..