He's Just Not That Into You

"Denis MacShane, a former British minister for Europe, who met with other Atlanticists at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Edinburgh over the weekend, describes the circumstances this way: ‘There's a growing worry everywhere in Europe that we have the first U.S. president since 1945 to show no interest in what's happening on this side of the relationship.'"

"... the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a newspaper... found that Mr. Obama's America seems ‘to be taking pleasure in the idea of having a G-2 condominium' with China that would leave little place for a European share of global power."

"The current issue of Le Canard Enchaîné... has President Nicolas Sarkozy saying: ‘The truth is that Bush was more interested in Europe than Obama. Obama is very disappointing in terms of foreign policy. It's not only with me that relations are difficult. It's the same with Merkel and Brown. The words have changed. The hand was extended. But no one has grasped it.'"

"President Barack Obama has catapulted past the Dalai Lama as the most respected world leader among West Europeans and Americans, according to a poll...  His ratings contrast sharply with those of his predecessor, George W. Bush...  Earlier results indicated that Bush was considered powerful but was not respected. The new survey shows Obama as the No. 1 world leader on both fronts."