Stories Government & Politics from November, 2008

Armenian Bloggers Hail Power Return

  November 30, 2008

While most people know Samantha Power as an Obama adviser who has called Hillary Clinton a “monster,” many genocide awareness and prevention activists consider the Harvard professor a hope they can believe in. The Associated Press has noticed that Power, who officially resigned from Obama’s campaign during the Democratic primaries, is on US President-elect Obama’s transition team. This news has encouraged several Armenian bloggers who now feel assured that the author of “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide” (2002) will remind President-elect Barack Obama to keep his promise of officially recognizing the WWI Armenian Genocide committed by Ottoman Turks.

Africa: Back to Reality after Obama's Election

  November 23, 2008

The election of Barack Obama prompted hope throughout Africa that the perception of the continent and the nature of relations between Africa and the US will now be different. However, many bloggers are now warning their fellow Africans against unrealistic expectations. The fact that Obama’s father was Kenyan, they argue, will not alter the fact that Obama was elected by Americans to look out for American interests in the world.

Global: On Obama's Cabinet Choices

  November 21, 2008

Two weeks since Barack Obama was elected president and a little less than eight weeks away from his inauguration, and world bloggers have commented on every move the he’s been making and every post he’s assigned.

Sarkozy to Putin: “Do you want to end up like Bush?”

  November 15, 2008

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former Russian president Vladimir Putin are known for having a colorful and unpredictable relationship. Has Sarkozy's warning to Putin not to behave like the American president George W Bush been a factor in not escalating the crisis in Georgia? Bloggers from around Europe weigh in.

Global: Palin for 2012?

  November 13, 2008

With less than two weeks away from the closing of the 2008 election, talk about Sarah Palin running in 2012 is already hitting the blogosphere. In the Netherlands, Michael van der Galien writes it is obvious the Republican Party has already set plans for the next presidential election. “But the...

France: “Diversity” Boosted by the Obama Effect?

  November 12, 2008

“The Obama effect,” the new set phrase for change French-style, from economics to sports to nearly every area of life, is shaking up the literary as well as the political communities. Whatever the agenda displayed by those concerned, diversity – meant as the contrary of discrimination in jobs, society, politics,...

Brazil: Is Obama the American version of president Lula?

  November 10, 2008

In the case of Lula, hope overcame fear. In the case of Obama, hope overcame prejudice. Both leaders won peoples' trust that changes would come. Six years on, Brazilian electors are yet to see many of the dreamed changes come true. Can Barack Obama learn from the errors of a Southern neighbor?

Social Media and The Making of the President

  November 9, 2008

How influential was the web in this year's presidential election? Many onlookers and supporters of Barack Obama claim the President-Elect's mastery of video, audio and blogs helped him win the vote. A few international bloggers debate the role social media played in Obama's victory.