On 20 January 2011, President Barack Obama reached the halfway mark of his term in office.


This seminar looked back at the accomplishments and failures of the first two years as well as assessed prospects for Obama's next two years in both domestic and foreign policy.


Topics included to what degree the Obama administration will be constrained by the newly-elected Republican majority in the House of Representatives, how the US will deal with foreign policy challenges ranging from the rise of countries in Asia and Latin America to the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan, green energy policy, immigration reform, the ramifications of the recent shooting in Arizona for the political climate as well as for public policy, and the start of the campaign for 2012.


In collaboration with the Center for American Studies at SDU, the Center for the Study of the Americas at CBS had gathered some of the leading researchers and experts on US politics in Denmark to speak and debate at the seminar:
Spencer Oliver , Secretary General of the International Secretariat of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
David Nye , Professor, Center for American Studies, University of Southern Denmark (ill)
Niels Bjerre-Poulsen , Associate Professor, Center for American Studies, University of Southern Denmark
Carl Pedersen , Adjunct Professor, Center for the Study of the Americas, CBS