TODAY OBAMA, TOMORROW THE WORLD - AT 7:59 P.M. ET:  From Fox News: 

Only nine months ago, when he addressed an estimated 200,000 people in Germany, Barack Obama was heralded as "president of the world."

But now that he's president of the United States, the world doesn't appear to be following up on its endorsement.

From France to Poland, from the Czech Republic to China, many nations are rebuffing the president and offering little wiggle room for him to negotiate economic and security policies.

Obama faces his first major international test next week when the world's largest economies meet at the G20 summit in London.

"I think as the president heads to Europe, he faces a huge public relations disaster," said Nile Gardiner, director of the conservative Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.

COMMENT:  This is a Fox report.  Let's see how the more establishment press spins it.  It's perfectly obvious from the stories we examine every day at Urgent Agenda that many foreign ministries are underwhelmed by President Obama's policies and his administration.  The president may be impressed by the "soft power" arguments at Harvard's Kennedy School, but softness doesn't win you much respect in the back alleys of international politics.  When you signal that you're punishing your friends and rewarding your enemies, neither friends nor enemies are likely to show much respect. 

March 25, 2009