20
Medvedev, but relations with Russia may only get tougher, with Vladimir Putin's likely return to the Russian presidency.
Arab Spring: After a slow start, the Obama administration eventually came around to calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down, joining the NATO intervention in Libya, and supporting stricter sanctions against Syria. The president has been less outspoken about other Persian Gulf allies, including Bahrain, which hosts a key U.S. naval base. Obama has urged Egypt and Tunisia to "set a strong example through free and fair elections, a vibrant civil society, accountable and effective democratic institutions, and responsible regional leadership."
Other issues: Although he once described himself as a George H.W. Bush-school realist, in the past year Obama has learned to embrace humanitarian intervention, both in Libya and in central Africa, where military advisors have been sent to aid in the fight against the long- running insurgency by the Lord's Resistance Army. There's speculation that Nigeria may be next. It's a measure of how much things have changed in the last four years that Republicans are now attacking the Democratic president for trying to spread democracy and human rights at the barrel of a gun.
As the European economic crisis has worsened, Obama has been speaking out more in support of strong measures to protect the common currency. "Ultimately what they are going to need is a firewall that sends a clear signal we stand behind the European project and we stand behind the euro," he said during his recent trip to Australia.
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031960