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Obama: An impossible challenge and hurdle?

Obama will be sworn-in as president of the US in 5 days.

He is confronted with formidable challenges, as The German Times catalogues:

"Al Qaeda, Darfur, Russia, China. The financial crisis. The EU, the Middle East, Kashmir, Taiwan, North Korea, Iran. And don’t forget all the domestic challenges. Welcome to your new job, Mr. Obama.

As the sands of time run out on the hapless administration of George W. Bush, the world is waiting with bated breath for Barack Obama to take the helm. The new man in the White House, after the dismal Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz/Greenspan era, a beacon of hope for mankind, faces a daunting in-tray. When he takes over on Jan. 20, he and his impressive team will confront a host of grave problems.

The guns of Gaza, rising tensions between India and Pakistan after the Mumbai assaults and ethnic clashes in the eastern Congo remind us that peace around the globe is a state of affairs to be fervently wished for but far from present-day reality. At the same time, the ruinous fallout from the global financial crisis has revealed the fragility of an economic system that was once touted as producing prosperity for all."

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