More of the Same or Time for Change? Foreign Policy and U.S. Elections 2008

Friday 11. July 18:00 - 20:00
Location: FU Berlin

 

On July 9 the Executive Director of the Aspen Institute in Berlin, Charles King Mallory IV, gave a lecture at the Free University Berlin on „ More of the Same or Time for Change? Foreign Policy and U.S. Elections 2008“. The event was co-hosted by DGAP and the John F. Kennedy-Institute. In his speech, Mallory laid out what Germany can expect from a future US President Barack Obama or John McCain on foreign policy.

Mallory expects a significant change of strategy in Afghanistan. The future administration will have concrete demands for NATO and Germany. Furthermore, the role of Pakistan will become more important. In the Iraqi case, the next President has to find adequate means to reconcile conflicting ethnic groups. None of the candidates has excluded the use of force on Iran. However, the location of the Iranian nuclear sites and the current strains on American troops make a successful strike quite unrealistic. American pressure on German companies investing in Iran will, in any case, be increased. Relations between the United Nations and the US will remain ambivalent: Barack Obama has not ruled out to take unilateral actions and John McCain is exerting pressure on the UN by proposing a League of Democracies. Substantial progress can be expected in combating climate change, since both candidates support a carbon trading scheme and have proposed concrete national numbers for reducing greenhouse gases.

The event was featured in the ARD Tagesthemen.