Partners Abroad

In 2008, Barack Obama wound down his Middle East and European tour by meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Downing Street. Meeting with reporters later, Obama stressed the importance of good relationships with other countries. "The reason that I thought this trip was important is that I am convinced that many issues that we face at home are not going to be solved as effectively unless we have strong partners abroad," Obama said.

Global Citizenship

On this day in 2008, presidential candidate Barack Obama continued his Middle East and European tour, making a surprise visit to Jerusalem's Western Wall wearing a yarmulke and placing a prayer in the wall. Then he was off to Berlin where he met with Chancellor Merkel before speaking to a crowd estimated at 200,000 in front of the Victory Column. Stressing the "burdens of global citizenship," Obama told the crowd: "Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity."

President Obama is staying stateside during the summer of 2012, but his opponent Mitt Romney leaves today for London where he will kick off a week-long trip to Britain, Israel and Poland. Before leaving U.S. soil, Romney spoke to the VFW and delivered - according to the Los Angeles Times - "a scathing indictment of President Obama's defense and foreign policies." National polls however, show the public giving the president good marks on his foreign policy record.