Salon.com: Why Obama will soon land in Europe - by Gregor Peter Schmitz

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Why Obama will soon land in Europe - by Gregor Peter Schmitz

What will the new U.S. president mean for Europe? And above all, what will he want from Europe? A group of Europeans and Americans recently engaged in heated debate on the subject on the sidelines of a transatlantic conference at Stanford University. Charles Kupchan, a former advisor to Bill Clinton and one of America's top experts on Europe, gave a less than euphoric assessment. What will happen, he asked his audience, if the popular Barack Obama comes to Europe as U.S. president and demands much more help in Afghanistan or Iraq? How will the Europeans respond? These difficult questions won't arise in earnest until next year, but European politicians will soon be able to meet Obama in person. The Democratic contender announced over the weekend that he plans to visit Europe during the presidential campaign. His itinerary includes Paris, London and Berlin.

When Obama lands in Germany, he will probably spend only a few hours in Berlin, and it's unlikely that he will address a large audience or meet the public there. One reason may be that too much open euphoria for Obama could damage his election chances at home -- Democrats haven't forgotten how the Republicans labeled John Kerry as too "European" four years ago. It seems unlikely that the German government or the U.S. Embassy will want to give Obama a public stage in the middle of the presidential campaign. It's conceivable that Obama might meet Americans living in Germany to collect campaign donations.

The Guardian: Going local in Suriname - by Vicky Barker

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Going local in Suriname - by Vicky Barker

When Diana comes to my hostel's door, she is wearing a name badge: "Diana, Servas Suriname." I wouldn't have thought this was entirely necessary, given that there's only the two of us heading out for a drink, however it seems my travel-networking experiment has taken a more formal turn. I'm now in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, next to Guyana on the northern shores of South America, and stylishly dressed Diana is here in her official capacity: president of the local chapter of Servas, the world's oldest travel networking site. The internet may have driven the new wave of travel networking, but the original global hospitality project started back in 1949. With members in over 100 countries and a motto of promoting "peace through understanding", Servas (joomla.servas.org) was founded by an American pacifist, Bob Luitweiler, who died last month, aged 90. Most intriguingly, unlike the new websites, where anyone can sign up and log on, potential Servas members can only join after having a face-to-face interview.

Servas is an international, non-governmental, multicultural peace association run by volunteers in over 100 countries. Founded in 1949 by Bob Luitweiler as a peace movement, Servas International is a non-profit organization working to build understanding, tolerance and world peace. For more information and background on Bob Luitweiler’s vision, read his description in Seeds of Servas. They operate through a network of Servas hosts around the world who are interested in opening their doors to travellers , and of Servas travellers who want to get to know the heart of the countries they visit.
Servas helpers are members who support the goals of the organization in other ways, through leadership and communication or perhaps as a representative at the United Nations. Servas International has consultative status as a non-governmental organisation with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, with representation at many of the UN's hubs of activity.