President Barack Obama gives a speech to members of both Houses of Parliament at Westminster Hall in London, England, May 25, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Much of the President's trip to Europe so far had seemed to be light-hearted diplomacy, from joining an excited crown in Dublin to toasting the Queen and a tour of Buckingham Palace. But as President Obama spoke to "the Mother of Parliaments" at Westminster Hall, it was a stark reminder of just closely linked our fates are. He began with a recounting of our shared history, from "a small scrape about tea and taxes" to sacrificing "side by side to free a continent from the march of tyranny, and help prosperity flourish from the ruins of war."
Even more stark, though, was the myriad of challenges facing out two nations today. Turmoil, war and democracy in the Middle East; the ongoing threat of loose nuclear materials and the hope that we can move towards a world where nuclear weapons no longer threaten us; these, along with countless other eruptions and issues around the world, can only be dealt with through international cooperation. And the U.S. and the UK will always be at the forefront of that.
Right now, though, the American and British people are rightly concerned about their own economies first and foremost, and here too the President laid out a strong case for our importance to each other:
Fonte: White House