U.S - European Ties with Obama as President Essay

U.S - European Ties with Obama as President - Essay Example â€Å"The election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States opened a new chapter in transatlantic relations, transforming European assessment of the American president, U.S. standing in Europe, attitudes toward U.S. global leadership, and perceptions on both sides of the Atlantic of the U.S.-EU relationship† (Transatlantic Trends Key Findings, p.6). It is a fact that Obama enjoys heavy support from the European countries compared to his predecessor. Obama’s handling of international affairs has already attracted many Europeans. The handling of Afghan crisis, economic crisis and climate change has helped Obama to acquire support even from the traditional anti- American publics in Turkey and Central and Eastern Europe. On the other hand, Western Europe is almost unique in supporting Obama’s policies. In fact Obama enjoys more support from the European publics than from the Americans at present. In America at least the Republicans are strongly oppo sing Obama’s economic and foreign policies whereas in Europe, irrespective of the political difference, Obama enjoys strong support at present. The recently concluded G20 summit and the winning of Nobel Prize for peace have helped Obama to polish his face among the Europeans. â€Å"People in the European Union and Turkey have fallen under the Obama spell..In 2008, their assessment of Bush was 18 percentage points lower than Bush’s approval in the United States. In 2009, the situation was reversed. Their positive judgment of Obama (77%) was 20 percentage points higher than in the United States (57%)† (Transatlantic Trends Key Findings, p.6). The leadership of America in global matters is more acceptable to the Europeans at present compared to the Bush regime. But it is a fact that the former socialist countries like Bulgaria, Slovaks, etc are still keeping reservations about the American leadership in global matters. Europeans are more