Professor James McAdams gave a presentation on the foreign policy of the US President.

On the morning of October 22, 2009, at the invitation of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and with the assistance of the US Embassy in Hanoi, Professor James McAdams from Notre Dame University (USA) gave a presentation to a large audience of faculty and students of the Department of International Studies - University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

The topic of the talk was "President Barack Obama's foreign policy before and after the Nobel Peace Prize."

Professor McAdams began his talk by asking: Why did President Barack Obama receive the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize from the Norwegian Nobel Committee on October 9, 2009, when he seemed to have made no truly outstanding contributions? According to Professor McAdams, the fundamental reason the Nobel Committee decided to award the prize to President Barack Obama was not because of what the President had already accomplished, but because of what he would accomplish during his term.

According to Professor McAdams, one can certainly have high expectations of a person like President Obama. He is a quintessential American. Coming from a modest family, with Kenyan and American ancestry, he endured a difficult childhood, including four years of high school in Indonesia. But above all, President Obama is a humble man, a dreamer, and a responsible member of society. He is the one who can ignite faith in a peaceful, stable, and prosperous world where all nations have a responsibility to cooperate with one another.

Following the presentation, Professor McAdams answered numerous questions from both faculty and students on topics such as: the decision to end the US missile defense system in Eastern Europe, the situation in Afghanistan, the characteristics of American political culture, the focus of US foreign policy in the coming period, the US perspective on Southeast Asia, and the prospects for Vietnam-US relations…