The timing was perfect for European studies faculty, as President Obama approaches his 100-day in office.

SF State's history director Sarah Curtis hosted a panel discussion about the European-U.S. relations in the Obama era Tuesday afternoon.

"Maybe it was a blessing in disguise because he made that important trip to Europe and that gave us more to talk about," Curtis said. "In fact I think the 100 days have been very useful because we can assess how much he's changed since the 100 days."

The two panelists were political science professor Andrei Tsygankov, who focused on Russia, while international relations professor Angelika Von Wahl, focused on Germany and the European Union.

Von Wahl was the first to speak to a group of around 20 students in the History Lounge in the Science building. She focused her lecture on Obama's pre-election and post-election.

She began by describing the euphoric atmosphere in Berlin when Obama visited and subsequently when he was elected.

"I had Germans who called me crying," Von Wahl said. "There was a sense of relief."

Van Wahl went on to explain that a possible reason why Obama is widely popular among the German population and politicians is because "he has something for everyone."

Obama, she said, is very different from former president George W. Bush. Obama is perusing more unilateral policies that appeal to moderate, liberals and even environmentalists in Germany.

"Obama makes it harder to reject the more difficult task," Van Wahl said when she referred to Obama's shift from Iraq to Afghanistan, which for Germany it means sending more troops there.

Tsygankov then began speaking about the cautious stance Russians felt towards the Obama administration.

He began by giving historical context about the Russian-U.S. relations and tried to pinpoint the reason for the strained relationship.

"Russia and U.S. have to overcome extremely difficult legacies," Tsygankov said.

The focused then shifted towards energy.

Russian economy is based largely on energy, and the interest of the U.S. has shown in tapping middle Asia resources as a threat to Russia, Tsygankov said.

At the end of the panel discussion, students asked questions concerning issues in Ukraine, Iran and China among others.

"I think there were more questions asked about Russia as opposed to more of the European Union," said Tori Draeger, a History major and a member of the College Republicans. "I think we all know more about the EU, than we knew about the Russian relationships."

Alan Pereza, a marketing student, expressed his motivation for being at the event.

"As Americans we are more focused on our policies we think its important to get well informed perspectives of what is going on around the world," Pereza said.

Curtis said she felt that the panel was very successful because of how engaged the students were. She added that this would hopefully create an awareness of the faculty's capabilities.

"It was a nice treat to be in front of these panel who are from those nations and are very professional and well informed of the policies of those nations," Draeger said.