A Defining Speech by a Remarkable Man.

With all the eloquence of a Lloyd George or a Woodrow Wilson; Barack Obama addressed the Great Hall of Cairo University in an attempt to forge a 'new beginning' for American-Muslim relations. In a speech reminiscent of another great American President, John F. Kennedy's captivating speech to the American University in 1963, President Obama broke with his predecessors naive assumptions of 'us' and 'them' to create a potential glimmer of hope.

However, considering President Obama's nuanced approach during his speech, many media outlets have dubbed the speech as 'America and the Muslim world'. During the speech Barack Obama was at pains to differentiate the different Muslim groups from one another, and talked at great length about respecting and treating each group differently. But the main news rooms, CNN, Fox and BBC, have ignored this important nuance.

Whether the speech has been truncated in to digestible soundbites for the perceived ease of their audience or the journalists are still trapped in the language of the previous administration, this has yet to be seen. But to ignore the finer points has done the speech and Barack Obama a great disservice.

Sadly Jeremy Bowen urged caution; stating that by giving hope for a peaceful resolution for many of the conflicts around the world, Barack Obama has set himself up to disappoint many people. But surely by stating that he recognises that a more nuanced approach is necessary, President Obama is developing good will and political capital that can potentially be used to reach compromises in certain conflicts. Something that his predecessor certainly lacked.