Obama woos Europeans with valuable strategy

Barack Obama's trip to Europe went well, although one would have expected European leaders to be more responsive to his request for additional troops to fight the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

On the public relations and diplomatic front Obama did exceptionally well. The US President was given a rapturous welcome wherever he went and the world witnessed a new chapter in American foreign policy based on engagement, listening, consensus, and most important of all, being different to the Bush administration.

After attending the G20 in London - where he played a major role in forging a consensus - Obama participated in a Nato summit in France and Germany, followed by an EU-US summit in Prague and then a very successful visit to Turkey.

At a town hall meeting in Strasbourg packed with hundreds of young Germans and French prior to the 60th anniversary Nato summit, Obama told his audience that "instead of celebrating Europe's dynamic union and seeking to work with you, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive." No wonder Europeans love this man.

The Nato summit went reasonably well, even though the Americans must have been somewhat disappointed that the European Nato members, with the exception of Britain, did not agree to substantially increase their troop deployments to Afghanistan. On the other hand, there was no row between Washington and the Europeans at the summit over additional troops and Europe has pledged further resources for the training of Afghan security forces - an important aspect of this war.

Furthermore, Obama played a major role at the summit in convincing Turkey to drop its objections to the appointment of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next Nato secretary general. The Turks were not happy with Rasmussen's behaviour when a Danish newspaper published cartoons that offended much of the Muslim world and were also angry at the Prime Minister for allowing a pro-Kurdish television channel to broadcast from Denmark.

Ankara's consent over Rasmussen was an important achievement by the US President - who promised that one of Nato's deputy secretary generals would be a Turk - thus ensuring a smooth summit.

The EU-US summit in Prague, an informal meeting, was an opportunity for EU leaders and the US President to discuss their partnership and future strategy and to follow-up on issues discussed at both the G20 and the Nato summit such as tackling the global economic crisis and the war in Afghanistan.

On both these questions, Obama asked the EU to play its part. This summit also coincided with the N. Korean missile launch, which led to a joint declaration in Prague by the EU and the US condemning the launch as an act of provocation.

In Prague Obama - in clear contrast to the policy of his predecessor - emphasised that the US wanted to be a leader in tackling the problem of climate change. He also spoke out on the need for dialogue and partnership with the Muslim world. Both these issues were certainly appreciated by his European hosts and this summit confirmed the beginning of a new era in transatlantic relations.

Obama's visit to Turkey was particularly successful and well received.

The US President understands and appreciates Turkey's strategic importance, its link to the Muslim world, the key role it can play in fighting terrorism, the Middle East peace process and the war in Afghanistan as well as the fact that it is a secular Muslim democracy. He also knows after eight years of the Bush administration public opinion in Turkey - a Nato member and supposedly staunch US ally - has deteriorated sharply against the US.

Obama said in Turkey that the US "is not and will never be at war with Islam" and added: "Our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject". He strongly supported Turkey's bid to join the EU (although, as Nicolas Sarkozy pointed out, this is a matter for EU member states to decide), and said he considered Turkey to be a "critical ally".

He also expressed his support for the normalisation of relations between Turkey and Armenia and stuck (rather bravely) to his 2008 declaration during the US presidential campaign that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted "genocide" - without repeating the word - and still managed not to upset his hosts, which is quite an achievement as the issue is a highly sensitive one in Turkey.

So there is no doubt that Obama's trip to Europe has created an important basis for better US engagement with the world and increased multilateralism. As David Axelrod, the President's closest political aide remarked, "Over time, the seeds that were planted here are going to be very, very valuable."