"President-elect Obama’s first task will be to do whatever government can do to lift the US — and with it the global economy — out of slump. A wide-ranging programme of reform will be necessary to begin to restore trust in the institutions of American leadership – in Washington and in the private sector. Negotiating a responsible drawdown of US troops in Iraq and redoubling efforts in Afghanistan will be essential early steps towards shoring up US national security.

Americans made history yesterday. But the challenges their new leader faces are no less historic. "

in Times Online por Gerard Baker

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