Making friends wherever he goes. Building alliances and helping to mend broken relations.
Has hurt relations with India, Pakistan, Israel, Canada, England, France, Germany, Russia
Has built relations with: Hamas, the Palestinians, Egypt, and China.
I am unsure what relations Bush hurt during his years, because he certainly didn't alienate every one of our allies as Obama seems to be doing.
June 5, 2009
Barack and Michelle Obama decline dinner with the Sarkozys
Charles Bremner in Paris
London Times
The Obamas turn up in Paris this evening, but have declined a dinner invitation from the couple next door: the Sarkozys.
President Obama’s reluctance to spend more than minimum time with the French leader on his visit for the D-Day anniversary has come as an embarrassment to the Elysée Palace.
America’s First Family will not be dining with President Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni, even though they are staying at the residence of the US Ambassador, yards from the Elysée apartments where the Sarkozys spend their weekends.
[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link]
and then for Germany:
A rift has quietly opened up between Germany and the United States, marked by official statements of harmony and private grumbling. It is not an outright crisis in relations, but there are underlying tensions and disagreements on matters ranging from the global economic crisis to the future of inmates held at Guantánamo Bay.
On a more basic level, there is a sense that the Obama administration is ignoring the needs and counsel of longtime allies. Divided Germany was once at the center not only of the cold war, but of American foreign policy as well, which is no longer the case. Yet the United States can ill afford to alienate Europe’s largest economy and its most important intermediary in the strained relationship with Russia.
Obama
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