European Leaders React to Obama's Re-Election

In light of Tuesday's election I thought I'd post a gallery of quotes from European leaders about Obama's Re-election. Most European leaders were pleased with Obama's Re-election, saying that he shared many of the same foreign policy values as Europe and had more similar ideals than a right wing president would have. 

Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she is pleased that Germany and the U.S. can continue to work together and overcome foreign and economic challenges as friends and allies. European Parliament President Martin Schulz said that the U.S. and the EU had much more that unites them than what separates them. 

   

German President Joachim Gauck also said that the U.S. and Germany were "charged with taking on the global challenges and threats to freedom, peace, prosperity and threats to our environment." This quote is particularly interesting because it highlights Germany's concern with the environment, particularly climate change, and their continued pressure on the U.S. to take more action in terms of the environment.  

Is US Foreign Policy Falling Behind?

In light of the recent American foreign policy debate, I thought it would be interesting to see what Germans are saying about the subject. In an article from Der Spiegel titled "Debate Reveals Outdated US Foreign Policy", both Romney and Obama were bashed for their outdated, Bush era, stance on foreign policy. The article stated that they were not focusing on important, new global challenges such as green technology and the rise of Asia, but instead still stuck in a world order created by the Bush administration that focused on the Middle East.
    From an American perspective I found this idea completely new. I had just assumed that because the US was so focused on the Middle East, so was the rest of the world. Instead I was caught completely unaware by the idea that what the US considered some of the most pressing issues in foreign policy were outdated. This lead me to wonder what this could mean for the US as a global power if many of the world's other countries consider it to be wrapped up in problems of the past. What do you think?