Will Obama pursue a more progressive foreign policy?

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:23:00 +0000

Even though we come from different places, we share common dreams: to choose our leaders; to live together in peace; to get an education and make a good living; to love our families and our communities. That’s why freedom is not an abstract idea; freedom is the very thing that makes human progress possible — not just at the ballot box, but in our daily lives.

One of our greatest Presidents in the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, understood this truth. He defined America’s cause as more than the right to cast a ballot. He understood democracy was not just voting. He called upon the world to embrace four fundamental freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. These four freedoms reinforce one another, and you cannot fully realize one without realizing them all.—Barack H. Obama, University of Yangon, November 19, 2012

Obama to Myanmar: ‘Show power of a new beginning’

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:59:00 +0000

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — President Barack Obama is encouraging Myanmar to continue its transition to democracy, pledging that the U.S. will be friends with any nation that respects its people's rights and international law.

Obama says Myanmar, whose repressive military rule led to its shunning by the world, can now show the world the "power of a new beginning" by continuing to open up and contributing to a world that is more peaceful, more prosperous, more just and more free.

It's the steps that the country, also known as Burma, already has taken that led to Monday's historic visit by Obama. He is the first sitting U.S. president to visit Myanmar.

In a speech at the University of Yangon, Obama acknowledged the country's shortcomings but said: "The United States of America is with you."

Salon.com > Burma

Will Obama pursue a more progressive foreign policy?

Obama to Myanmar: ‘Show power of a new beginning’