European trip to test Obama's influence

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By Jon Ward

UPDATE: President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrived in London on Tuesday evening on the first leg of an eight-day trip to Britain, France, Germany, the Czech Republic and Turkey.

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President Obama's first major trip abroad is a highly anticipated event that will test whether the new president can leverage his stratospheric popularity to the nation's competitive advantage.

Mr. Obama's election by the American people has already changed the way many around the world view the United States, and the White House thinks this trip will further help them in "restoring America's standing in the world," as one official put it over the weekend.

But it is yet to be seen whether Mr. Obama can use his more conciliatory approach to foreign policy - in contrast to former President George W. Bush's often harder, blunter line - and still be a tough negotiator in the murky and complicated world of international diplomacy.

The list of challenges and issues facing Mr. Obama is long and daunting: The global economic crisis, reform of financial regulatory structures, Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs, the need for more contributions from European nations in Afghanistan, and the complex relationships with Russia and China are just some of the big-ticket items.

Mr. Obama is headed to a global economic summit in London and a meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Strasbourg-Kehl, which is on the border of France and Germany. Summits such as these are dominated by predictable statements of victory by each country, declaring that they have come away with all the concessions they were seeking going in.

The real winners and losers, however, are often not immediately clear.

Some observers said Mr. Obama's considerable charisma could in fact be the difference in achieving diplomatic victories on several fronts.