Grading the president's European debut

Let’s move on to what else was under-covered. In eight days, Obama tackled some of the trickier international issues of the the next decade — and some didn't get the press they deserved.

Among them:

China: The decision to elevate contact with the nation to a “strategic and economic dialogue” strikes me as yet another acknowledgment that China is the chief rival of the United States for the 21st century. And while Obama said he did not view the U.S. and China as a “G-2,” the very fact that he uttered the phrase “G-2” suggests that it's probably closer to reality — meaning, there’s the U.S., China, and everyone else.

Nuclear proliferation: The president’s speech in Prague and the pledges he made after meeting with the Russian president indicate a real motivation on Obama's part to make progress on this issue. But how far is he willing to go? Will the U.S. and Russia (and China and India and Pakistan) ever actually abandon their nukes? This is where the president’s rhetoric might not match the goal. Still, the rhetoric opens the door for other nations to jump to the U.S. side against Iran.

Relations with the Muslim world: The Turkey visit didn’t get the attention it deserved, thanks in part to the president’s (not so) surprise trip to Iraq. The elevation of Turkey and Obama's ability to speak more directly with the Muslim world from a majority-Muslim nation was a big deal. Sure, it may be an optic, but it could lead to something big in the Middle East.

American exceptionalism: The president gave a fascinating answer to a foreign reporter’s question about “American exceptionalism.” It’s an issue many in the American intelligentsia have been concerned about and presidents usually duck this kind of philosophical talk — but Obama's answer probably made even the most isolationist conservative feel pretty good. "The fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we've got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we're not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise and that includes us," said Obama.

Now, there are still questions that the president didn't answer that I thought he would during the trip (yes, we all wanted more time with him).

• Is the Taliban in Afghanistan a threat to the U.S. in the same way al-Qaida is?
• Why is he confident that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is the one calling the shots and not Prime Minister Vladimir Putin?
• What does he make of Israel’s threat to handle Iran if the U.S. doesn’t?
• Is China the chief, superpower rival of the United States?

There are plenty of other questions, but I would have liked the president to expound upon these at some point.

Finally, let's assess how the president did as a world politician.

Europe vs. Iowa
Judged in this role, the trip was an unequivocal success for the president. In First Read, we compared this trip to an inaugural voyage to Iowa for a presidential candidate.

Everything felt good, all the key officials were in suck-up mode and the media was "gee-whizzing" with its coverage (particularly about first lady Michelle Obama) — but when it was all over, tangible successes were hard to find.

To be fair, I think the Obama administration is right when it says this trip was about supposed to be about planting seeds, just like a first trip Iowa is about seed planting.

The popularity of this president was impressive to watch.

World leaders were tripping over each other to be seen with him. Average Europeans gawked at his motorcade with more interest than even Americans have right now. One veteran European journalist even said to me that an American president hasn't been this popular in Europe since Eisenhower — and he saved the continent from destruction.

Everything gets judged through such a partisan prism these days, so we might not be appreciating American's global resurgence right now. It’s a remarkable moment for the nation, no matter what you think of the current president.

And now it's up to the president to take full advantage of his popularity and this moment.

He doesn’t lack for confidence, and like most new presidents, he seems to enjoy playing the role of world statesman, more so than having to act as an economic recoverer-in-chief.

He may have been elected to focus on domestic policy (as most modern presidents are) but when history is done with Barack Obama, we may discover that it was his abilities on the world stage that defined his tenure.

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