Apart from what is happening in Gaza, the second hot issue people are anticipating these days is the transfer of power in the USA and the coming in of the Obama administration on the 20th January 2009.  Security and logistical arrangements of the inauguration have been on highest alert since the day he was elected in November.  The first African - American President in the history of the United States of America is truly a historic event.

What are the changes expected to happen? No one knows yet, President Elect Obama will be executing his party’s policies and will probably be more concerned about the bailout plan of the American Economy which is suffering from the highest unemployment rate since many years, and an economic recession experienced since the great depression in the 1930s.

Why is the election of Obama giving people hope around the world? People and many nations assume that change is coming; all this is related to his charisma, integrity and allure which he reflects. In our part of the world, people think that because of his color, his origins and his father’s religion, he will sympathize with our region and its problems.  So naive and emotional, at the end of the day, he is the President of the United States of America and he is accountable to the people who elected him.  He is not related to our region in any way.  His only direct relation with the region is Israel and the war in Iraq.

Until now, all his choices have been those of a dream team to save the country from a catastrophic recession. Will he be able to manage and succeed with his team to solve internally first the problems of the USA before turning around to give us a thought or to even initiate peace talks for the region???? I believe that his first concern will be to get out of Iraq which will be an extra burden on the region to carry, then the safety of Israel, and then maybe the peace talks to settle the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Let us hope that the hope emanating from his character will reflect positively on our region.