Obama Seeks Enhanced Engagement with the Middle East, Europe
Author: Mosaiko EditorPosted on: Jun 5th 2009
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President Obama to Speak to Muslim World from Cairo, June 4
The centerpiece of President Obama’s five-day visit to the Middle East and to Europe will be his speech June 4 at Cairo University on U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Mosaiko.gr and many other new media sites want to hear your thoughts.
“President Obama’s speech will be an important part of this engagement with the Muslim world, which began in his inaugural (speech) and has continued through venues such as his interview with Al Arabiya, his Nowruz message, and his speech and town hall (meeting) in Turkey,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
Obama begun his trip June 3 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for consultations with King Abdullah on issues including the Middle East peace process, energy and terrorism. He travels June 4 to Cairo for meetings with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his long-anticipated speech at Cairo University, which is being co-hosted by Al-Azhar University, regarded as one of the world’s leading Islamic institutions of higher education.
The Cairo Speech
But it is the Cairo speech that provides the critical moment of his trip, Gibbs said in a White House conference call with journalists May 29. “The speech will outline his personal commitment to engagement, based upon mutual interests and mutual respect. He will discuss how the United States and Muslim communities around the world can bridge some of the differences that have divided them,” Gibbs said.
The president will address violent extremism and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and areas for new partnerships that will serve the mutual interests of the United States and Muslim peoples, Gibbs said.
A significant factor in selecting Cairo for this speech is the importance that Egypt holds as a long-time strategic ally of the United States, said Denis McDonough, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.
This trip is an opportunity to continue the president’s outreach both in the Middle East and in Europe, McDonough said. On May 18, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington for talks with the president on how to resume the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and then on May 28 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas held lengthy meetings with Obama at the White House.
The Cairo speech, expected to be closely watched by the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, comes just ahead of critical elections in Lebanon and Iran.
Useful blogs and new media links:
- SMS & Mobile
“Be among the first to get highlights of U.S. President Obama’s June 4 speech in Cairo and tell us what you think. Go to www.america.gov/sms.html.and be part of the action.” That is the tweetable text telling mobile users how they can be part of President Obama’s historic speech in Cairo. IIP has put together a special mobile SMS service that sends text speech highlights in key languages to audiences and asks for their feedback. These ‘twitter’ sized messages will go out simultaneously with the speech delivery and gathers audience feedback as an interactive component. We are using a global SMS provider, Clickatell, to send out SMS in English, Arabic, Persian and Urdu (www.america.gov/sms.html.) to regional audiences.
- Interacting with CO.NX
IIP CO.NX went interactive about the Obama program several days before the event and the chat room has hundreds of participants signed up, some are already lurking inside. A chat and live webcast of the speech is at http://www.america.gov/multimedia/askamerica.html.
- Being Part of a Social Network
America.gov’s successful blog about the Obama Administration is geared up to discuss the speech in Cairo. Those wanting to read the blog or leave a comment can go to http://blogs.america.gov. Users can also join one of several social networks available at http://www.america.gov/communities/social-networks.htm),
- A Gateway to Information
America.gov has also created a special page for the Obama speech and related public affairs materials concerning the partnership between the U.S. and countries in the Islamic world. It is available at http://www.america.gov/obama_cairo.html.
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