Menu
Latest
Menu
Latest
Obama's victory is good news for the Caucasus. By the end of his first term Obama was able to set the right tone for US policy in the Region. Bolder action will be required in the future.

Obama's victory is good news for the Caucasus. By the end of his first term Obama was able to set the right tone for US policy in the Region. Bolder action will be required in the future.

7 November 2012

Barak Obama has been re-elected as president of the United States. After a hottly contested election campaign Obama emerged a clear winner in the polls, winning a majority of both the popular vote as well as the electoral college which finally determines the US Presidency.

Commonspace.eu political editor commented on the president's re-election and its impact on the Caucasus Region:

"The re-election of Barak Obama as President of the United States is good news for the Caucasus Region.

By the end of his first term in office, and after an initial hesitation, quaintly referred to by American diplomats as a "strategic pause", Obama had managed to set the right tone for American engagement with the region. In summary this meant: (a) Continued US committment to the region and its prosperity and particularly for the independence of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and their right to determine their own foreign policy; (b) support for the peaceful resolution of the conflicts in the region, working with international partners in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Process, the Geneva Process and other fora; (c) support for the process of political and economic reform in the region, including through freedom of speech, the right of assembly and free and fair elections; (d) co-operation with international partners, including the EU, Turkey and Russia to support the region's future.

These priorities will continue to feature in Obama's second term.

President Obama in the first term did not allow himself to be deterred by lobbying by groups with vested interest when pursuing his policy in the region. This may have dissapointed some, but overall this was for the best interest of the region. Obama was also exemplary in supporting human rights issues in the region, and played a positive role in ensuring the recent transition of power in Georgia.

In the coming four years we hope that the President will provide leadership on issues related to the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the South Caucasus. On both the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the conflicts in Georgia new initiatives are needed and the President should be ready to provide bold leadership."

source: commonspace.eu

photo: President Obama and Vice President Biden with their wives at a victory rally in Chicago on 7 November 2012.

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged
Trending

Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged

9 June 2021
Borrell underlined that the European Union will make every effort to support the peace process and to remain a committed partner to the Afghan people. "Of course, we will have to take into account the evolving situation, but disengagement is not an option.  We are clear on that: there is no alternative to a negotiated political settlement, through inclusive peace talks.
Editor's choice
News
NATO Chief says war is on Europe's doorstep, and warns against complacency
Trending

NATO Chief says war is on Europe's doorstep, and warns against complacency

12 December 2025
Russia could attack a Nato country within the next five years, the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, said in a stark new warning. "Nato's own defences can hold for now," Rutte warned in Berlin, but conflict was "next door" to Europe and he feared "too many are quietly complacent, and too many don't feel the urgency, too many believe that time is on our side. "Russia is already escalating its covert campaign against our societies," Rutte said in a speech in Germany. "We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured." Earlier this month, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said his country was not planning to go to war with Europe, but it was ready "right now" if Europe wanted to - or started a war. But similar reassurances were given by Moscow in 2022, just before 200,000 Russian troops crossed the border and invaded Ukraine. Putin has accused European countries of hindering US efforts to bring peace in Ukraine - a reference to the role Ukraine's European allies have recently played in trying to change a US peace plan to end the war, whose initial draft was seen as favouring Russia. But Putin was not sincere, Nato's secretary-general said in the German capital, Berlin. Supporting Ukraine, he added, was a guarantee for European security. "Just imagine if Putin got his way; Ukraine under the boot of Russian occupation, his forces pressing against a longer border with Nato, and the significantly increased risk of an armed attack against us." Russia's economy has been on a war footing for more than three years now - its factories churn out ever more supplies of drones, missiles and artillery shells. According to a recent report by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Russia has been producing each month around 150 tanks, 550 infantry fighting vehicles, 120 Lancet drones and more than 50 artillery pieces. The UK, and most of its Western allies, are simply not anywhere near this point. Analysts say it would take years for Western Europe's factories to come close to matching Russia's mass-production of weapons. "Allied defence spending and production must rise rapidly, our armed forces must have what they need to keep us safe," the Nato chief said.

Popular

Editor's choice
News
NATO Chief says war is on Europe's doorstep, and warns against complacency
Trending

NATO Chief says war is on Europe's doorstep, and warns against complacency

12 December 2025
Russia could attack a Nato country within the next five years, the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, said in a stark new warning. "Nato's own defences can hold for now," Rutte warned in Berlin, but conflict was "next door" to Europe and he feared "too many are quietly complacent, and too many don't feel the urgency, too many believe that time is on our side. "Russia is already escalating its covert campaign against our societies," Rutte said in a speech in Germany. "We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured." Earlier this month, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said his country was not planning to go to war with Europe, but it was ready "right now" if Europe wanted to - or started a war. But similar reassurances were given by Moscow in 2022, just before 200,000 Russian troops crossed the border and invaded Ukraine. Putin has accused European countries of hindering US efforts to bring peace in Ukraine - a reference to the role Ukraine's European allies have recently played in trying to change a US peace plan to end the war, whose initial draft was seen as favouring Russia. But Putin was not sincere, Nato's secretary-general said in the German capital, Berlin. Supporting Ukraine, he added, was a guarantee for European security. "Just imagine if Putin got his way; Ukraine under the boot of Russian occupation, his forces pressing against a longer border with Nato, and the significantly increased risk of an armed attack against us." Russia's economy has been on a war footing for more than three years now - its factories churn out ever more supplies of drones, missiles and artillery shells. According to a recent report by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Russia has been producing each month around 150 tanks, 550 infantry fighting vehicles, 120 Lancet drones and more than 50 artillery pieces. The UK, and most of its Western allies, are simply not anywhere near this point. Analysts say it would take years for Western Europe's factories to come close to matching Russia's mass-production of weapons. "Allied defence spending and production must rise rapidly, our armed forces must have what they need to keep us safe," the Nato chief said.