First One Hundred Days

The article I chose is about Obama wanting to make a speech in an Islamic country within his first one hundred days as president. Obama's goal in doing this is to get on better terms with the large Muslim population of the world. I think this is definitely a good idea, especially since the US is definitely not known for its excellent foreign relations. One of Obama's many goals for his term is to better relations with other countries, and this would definitely be a step in the right direction as long as his speech goes over well and is accepted by the Muslims and does not further alienate them from America. The major debate in the article is where his speech should be made, since there are a variety of countries where Islam is very popular. The article mentions Cairo in Egypt as the prime spot for this great speech to bring the world closer together. I think going to the middle east would be better than Egypt though. We clearly have more problems getting along over there and it would seem like we were really trying to make an effort with our direct former enemies if we went the middle east. Egypt seems like we are trying to get as close as we can to the problem spot without actually going in it. Although I think it is a good idea to better our relations with the rest of the world, and certainly starting that within the first one hundred days sets it as a priority, Obama should choose his location wisely in order to have the most positive impact.

article found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/us/politics/04web-cooper.html