In France and some other countries, Tuesday's voting had been seen as a test for Obama, cheered around the world before taking office. As former Danish Foreign Minister Mogens Lykketoft said, "American politics will be locked." But foreign policy isn't likely the top casualty, many opinion makers said.

Foreign leaders and publics may take the outcome of the election as a signal about what to expect from Obama in the next two years and craft their strategies accordingly. A GOP victory might embolden Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue stonewalling Obama and to stoke partisan opposition to his policies, for instance.

President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration ushered in a new era that sought for America to re-engage with the world. Two years later it still stands in stark contrast to eight years of President George W. Bush’s unilateralism and reputation for cowboy diplomacy. But what happens to the spirit of Obama’s foreign policy if Republicans capture control of Congress?

The Christian Science Monitor interviewed CPD Director Philip Seib about how the Internet has influenced the rise of social movements such as Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" which has gone global in a short amount of time. Seib notes, "the Internet only amplifies these movements. I would think we’re going to have more and more phenomena that start national and become global."

Turks have witnessed the ruling AK Party bring a powerful army to heel and humble political rivals. The spectacle now of one prosecutor arresting another, emblazoned across the internet, illustrates dramatically where the EU-candidate's Muslim democracy is facing its ultimate test.

As Kenya takes a step in a positive direction, its trajectory from violence and complete institutional breakdown to slow but constructive change should be an opportunity for the international community and United States to evaluate the potential and limitations of preventive diplomacy as a concrete foreign policy tool.

It is by now well known that President Hugo Chavez failed to garner a majority vote in the December 1st plebiscite called to authorize 69 changes to the Venezuelan constitution. This surprising defeat, the first for Chavez since his 1998 election to the presidency, will undoubtedly force a bit of soul-searching in government circles and energize the opposition, even if it is unlikely to produce significant change in the country.

From an online discussion at Development Gateway, Jul 2, 2007: