Obama, Egypt, 2009 / White House photo
Time‘s Tony Karon weighs in on our Global Spin blog on what to listen for in President Obama’s Middle East speech Thursday:
Why would he address the Arab world at a moment when his policies have little hope of reversing diminished U.S. standing? After all, the Arab consensus views Obama has having failed miserably to deliver on the promises of his 2009 Cairo speech — and the White House has made clear that the President is not planning to announce any policy shifts on Thursday. So why bother to make the speech at all? Answer: Obama’s Mideast “reset” speech is not aimed primarily at the newly empowered Arab public; its primary audience is Washington, where the Administration has taken a beating for its haphazard responses to Arab uprisings.
A domestic speech on international affairs? No wonder he’s giving it before lunch.