Challenges for the New Administration

With the hoopla surrounding the inauguration of Barack Obama a thing of the past, it is time to focus on the challenges that the Obama Administration faces. Just thinking about them gives you a sobering feeling.

First there is the economy. The last year has seen the world economy nose dive. Wall Street as we knew of this time last year no more exists, with the sale of Bear Sterns and Merrill Lynch and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. What started as a sub-prime mortgage crisis in some parts of the United States has spread across the world. With jobs been lost and homes foreclosures increasing on a daily basis, the current economic environment calls for bold, swift and proper action.

Second, there are wars that are being fought on two fronts. First there is Iraq, which was a war of choice and then there is Afghanistan, which is a war of necessity. The new administrations challenge would be peacefully end the war of choice and focus its efforts on the war of necessity. Also on the foreign policy front, the Middle East presents a formidable challenge to the new administration. With the three week Israeli offensive on Gaza drawing down, the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding is just unacceptable. The unconditional support of the previous US administration to Israel’s actions has further stoked the sentiment of anti American sentiment in this region of the world. The current conflict offers the new administration a fresh starting point to bring the relevant players to the table and start over the peace process again.

Third, there is the question of energy and how American consumption of fossil fuels is propping petro dictators and warming up the planet. The new administration can take the first step by investing in green technologies like solar, wind and other environmentally friendly technologies. This will not only help in creating new better paying jobs but also will reduce American dependence of fossil fuel, which right now comes from the most unstable region of the world.

And finally, there are a whole host of domestic challenges that need to be addressed. For starters there is health care. For a country that spends the most of any developed world on health care, but has very little to show for it in terms of better patient outcomes, the rising cost of health care needs to be addressed. Also there is the question of basic education, where recent reports have indicated Asia outperforming US in Math and Science education.

None of these challenges are going to be easy, but they are not insurmountable either. As President Obama himself admitted in his inaugural speech and I quote “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.” That is a reason to Hope.