I have openly declared my admiration for Barack Obama before (here and here). I have always been very much preoccupied with the prospects of changes in American foreign policy - especially with respect to its ties with Europe and global organizations. I remember disagreeing with Antal Daniel, a Blogactiv blogger, on this issue. While I’ve always felt that Obama as president would mean a total shift of paradigm in world affairs, both this article written by Obama himself a year ago and his recent visit to Berlin make me think twice before claiming this. The story with the visit goes pretty much along these lines: Obama was more of a rock star than a politician, with extatic crowds of 200000 people cheering for him, and with a speech that reminded everybody of the messianic figures of the American nation (i.e. Kennedy and Reagan). (more…)