International Views on Obama's Foreign Policy

International students at VCU gave favorable opinions about President Obama's foreign policy.

President Obama took office last month during a difficult time in America, amid what he called in his inaugural speech, “gathering clouds and raging storms.” Not only is the economy in poor shape, but America faces serious foreign policy challenges as well. As president, Obama is the commander-in-chief of a military fighting in two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As part of his foreign policy, Obama has promised to commit more troops to Afghanistan, in an effort to more effectively fight The Taliban, while also ending the Iraq war, which he opposed from the start.

Around VCU, students held a favorable view, hopeful that he can carry out the foreign policy agenda he promised.

“Magai Bol, a Sudanese student majoring in International Relations appreciates Obama’s stance on diplomacy and disliked former President Bush’s hard line against talking to enemies. He called Obama’s position “a positive change for the world.”

“Someone with the most power can do whatever they want,” he said. “[The United States] needs to talk to people.”

Several students from Saudi Arabia shared similar views.

“He’s trying to fix the government. He tried to fix what Bush had done,” engineering student Mohammed Suliman said.

Another engineering student, Mohammed Abdulajabar, called the war in Iraq “a big mistake.”

“What was the reason for attacking Iraq?” asked engineering student Ahmed Alnajdi. “Nuclear weapons; He didn’t find any.”

Information systems major Adel Alshayie said he was not particularly interested in politics but was still happy with Obama in office.

“I think there’s a lot of things that have changed,” he said.

Despite positive assessments from foreign-born VCU students, Obama has his work cut out for him. He has pledged to focus on diplomacy when dealing with other nations, including direct talks with Iran, a complete reversal of policy from the Bush Administration, but he has already found it tough trying to speak with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

According to the British newspaper The Sun, Obama offered Iran friendship if they “unclenched its fist.” Ahmadinejad responded, saying in part that America needed to apologize for its “dark crimes.” For now, the U.S-Iran relationship remains icy.

However, in a gesture of good will toward the new president, Russian military officials announced that they had shelved plans to deploy missiles near the European Union, according to The Irish Times.

Obama’s plans for world peace are sweeping. While he has found some cooperation from Russia for example, Iran remains a harsh critic. Still, Alnajdi feels good about the future with Obama at the helm.

“He’s going to change the world, not only America, but the world.”

**I tried to contact professors from the School of World Studies, but none we able to speak before the deadline.