Transatlantic Expert Previews Obama Foreign Policy During SAC 15th Anniversary Events

December 19, 2008

Dr. John Hulsman, visiting scholar at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, was a special guest of the Slovak Atlantic Commission and the Embassy during events on December 18 commemorating the15th anniversary of SAC's founding. His message at a roundtable at InfoUSA reading room, University Library in Bratislava, was that the Obama Administration, from all early indications, will ask Europe to take its multilateral commitments seriously. Hulsman is the face of the Council on all aspects of transatlantic relations, having given the inaugural speech for the von Oppenheim Center on "A New Way Forward for Transatlantic Relations toward the Greater Middle East." His expertise is particularly centered on forging common polices regarding Iran, Iraq, the War on Terror, and the Middle East Peace Process. In its 15 years, the Slovak Atlantic Commission's overall goal has been to support Euro-Atlantic relations and the transatlantic pillar of Slovak foreign and security policy. At a gala reception on December 18, the SAC unveiled a newly designed plaque commemorating President Woodrow Wilson's contribution to the independence of Czechoslovakia. In December 1918, Bratislava received the temporary name of "Wilson City," in honor of Wilson's commitment to freedom for the populations of Central Europe in the wake of World War I. Ambassador Vincent Obsitnik, SAC President Rastislav Kacer, and Gyorgy Baniaki, Vice-President of the Atlantic Treaty Association, all spoke on the occasion.

• Report on TV Markiza
• Ambassador Obsitnik's Remarks 
• Video of Dr. Hulsman's main argument on Obama's foreign policy
• "Wilsonovo mesto" plagát(PDF)