Word: speeches
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...more than a week now, White House officials have promised that Barack Obama would directly address the issues of democracy, human rights and freedom of speech in Russia, where all three values are often in scant supply. What they did not predict was that he would tie those causes so closely to his own life story...
...address to graduating students at Moscow's New Economic School, Obama described the "universal values" not as an ideal form of government but as a way of correcting inevitably imperfect governments. He spoke mainly of the American example - how freedom of speech allows minorities to petition for equal rights, how competitive elections allow citizens to hold their leaders accountable and how a free media expose corporate and government corruption. Then he made the topic personal. (See pictures of Obama in Russia...
...same speech, Obama continued his criticism of Russia for its invasion of Georgia last August, with an allusion that was difficult to miss, though again it was carefully worded. "There is a 19th century view that we are destined to vie for spheres of influence, and that great powers must forge competing blocs to balance one another," Obama said. "These assumptions are wrong." (See pictures of Russia's war with Georgia...
...Sphere of influence" is a term of diplomatic art, which is often invoked by the Russian government and Western nations in discussing plans for a NATO expansion and the European Commission's Eastern Partnership effort. In his speech, Obama distinguished between Europe's efforts to grow its diplomatic relations with former Soviet bloc countries and Russia's efforts to keep significant influence over its neighboring nations. "America will never impose a security arrangement on another country. For any country to become a member of an organization like NATO, for example, a majority of its people must choose to [join]," Obama...
...recent speech to the American Medical Association, President Barack Obama urged an audience of physicians to get on board with bundled, per-episode care. "You entered this profession to be healers," he said. "Now, that starts with reforming the way we compensate our providers - doctors and hospitals. We need to bundle payments so you aren't paid for every single treatment you offer a patient with a chronic condition like diabetes, but instead paid well for how you treat the overall disease...