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Commenting on the state of trans-Atlantic relations in 2008, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter argued that European Union governments are "not our vassals" but "occupy an equal position with the U.S." Documents released over the past month appear to offer a different view. In a report finalised earlier in December, the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton signalled that the EU's main purpose internationally is to "help" Washington "achieve its global objectives." By coincidence, a series of secret cables from U.S. embassies around the world made public by the website WikiLeaks indicates that the U.S. expects Europe to constantly act as its subordinate.

As President Barack Obama spoke a few words in Portuguese at Rio de Janeiro's Municipal Theatre drawing upon similarities between Brazilian and U.S. Histories and making reference to Brazilian culture, analysts believe that Brazil's relationship with the United States over trade and foreign policy has warmed as a sustained applause echoed throughout the theatre. "Our journeys began in similar ways," Obama said during his speech. "We became colonies claimed for distant crowns, but soon declared our independence. We welcomed waves of immigrants to our shores, and eventually cleansed the stain of slavery from our land," Obama said. Eduardo Eugenio Gouvea Viera, who represents FIRJAN Brazil's leading industry federation said "It was an historic speech. The message he gave was that the most worthy value to Brazilians and Americans is freedom," Viera told Brazil's official Agencia Brasil reports CNN. Abdias Nascimento, a representative of Brazil's Movimento Negro, said Obama's speech was "profound. Obama succeeded in striking the most sensitive chords in the souls of Brazil and Americans." In stark contrast, former Environment Minister Marina Silva, criticized Obama for abstaining from mentioning the environment and emissions trade negotiations, issues that have divided Brazil and the U.S. Early Sunday, President Obama's entourage made its way to Rio de Janeiro's infamous favela (a Portuguese word for "shanty") Cidade de Deus, whose social issues of drug wars and racial disparity were memorialized in the film "City of God" oringally "Cidade de Deus," directed by Fernando Mirreille and Katia Lund that was nominated for an Academy Award. The Obamas' visit to the favela was a symbolic if not an historic gesture that was well received by the Brazilian public in a nation known for its strong African heritage but a less than favorable record on racial and class discrimination. Favela residents cheered the arrival of the first family and Cidade de Deus schoolchildren watche

Democracy promotion in the Middle East has been a foreign policy imperative for every U.S. President for the past three decades. Geoffrey Swenson details the aspirations, projects and outcomes of U.S. - funded democracy building efforts in the Palestinian

WASHINGTON, Mar 11 (IPS) - Scores of Middle East and democracy experts released an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday asking him to focus more of his foreign policy efforts at making reforms in the region, including boosting human rights.

The National Endowment for Democracy "must continue to serve as a focal point for U.S. democracy assistance to non-state actors," according to a new report. Democracy promotion should remain a priority on the foreign policy agenda but reforms are required

Recent discourse on U.S. efforts to promote democracy has focused on military activities; especially the strategic and normative perils of democracy promotion at the point of bayonets. This paper explores the United States' use of economic statecraft to f