Domingos Amaral on Obama's first six months as US president

Domingos Amaral takes stock of US President Barack Obama's first six months in office in the daily Correio da Manhã: "Taking a look at the world, we must sadly state that little has changed. Fresh bomb attacks shook Iraq shortly before the troop withdrawal ordered by Obama, and the situation will certainly worsen. There were protests in Iran but nothing will change. The stubborn president [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] and the Ayatollahs render negotiation with Obama impossible. War rages in Afghanistan and there's no end in sight. In Pakistan the situation is unstable and dangerous, and no one can say what the future holds. In Israel the hardliners in power are making minimal concessions on a future Palestinian state while continuing to allow settlements [in the occupied territories]. As far as the Palestinians are concerned, Hamas has changed even less. Even if Obama's speech in Cairo means a major change in US policy in the Middle East, the repercussions have been slight until now. And if we look at North Korea, whose dictator [Kim Yong Il] is becoming increasingly provocative, we can say that Obama has not changed the world."

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