Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 07/2010

President Obama's Speech in Cairo: A new climate of hope on the world scene

Ozdem Sanberk

March 2009

Global Political Trends Center

Abstract

Will President Obama’s speech in Cairo prove to have been a historic turning point in relations between the Islamic world and the United States? There is no doubt that the President himself sincerely intended it to be. And it is easy to see why. The antagonism between the USA and substantial sections of world Muslim opinion, particularly in the Arab Middle East and Iran, is one of the biggest challenges faced by US foreign policy, a clear threat to world peace. But can things change while the USA is closely aligned with Israel? How ?