Hungarian book on the 'Obama phenomenon'

’Obama – the road to the White House and always further…” is the title of a new book in Hungarian by Pál Bokor, a former Hungarian correspondent in the United States about the election and the presidency of Barack Obama who the author terms as a “genial communicator”.

"Whatever the end of his presidency will be, one thing was decided with the mere fact that Obama was elected: in one of the determining countries of our civilization, the racial issue received a decisive blow.” This is one of the statements that – just as the whole book – ignite reflections in the mind of the reader, said professor Tamás Magyarics, director of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs at the presentation of the Hungarian language publication in Budapest Thursday. He is of the view that the book is a precise historical overview but – at the same time – also a psychological detective novel whose aim is to solve the Obama mystery.

Bokor already wrote a book about Obama in 2008, before his election as President, also touches upon – in this quasi sequel – the issue of why Obama’s story is important for Hungary and the evaluation of the first two years of his presidency includes a special focus on experience concerning Central and Eastern Europe.

Former Hungarian ambassador to the United States, András Simonyi also attended the book presentation and was of the view that the Obama phenomenon is now off the shelf of myths, politics in the United States swings back to the mainstream and it is the merits that will count in the years to come. He recommends this book – as a “wonderful and precise documentation of the Obama phenomenon”, a useful reading – for diplomats, laymen and the Hungarian elite.