Now that the two major national political parties have completed their conventions, we know beyond a doubt that John McCain or Barack Obama will be the next president. And since our focus is on foreign policy, it's time to speculate about the challenges facing the next president. Richard Holbrooke helps us narrow our focus in this article in Foreign Affairs:
The next president […] will inherit a more difficult opening-day set of international problems than any of his predecessors have since at least the end of World War II. In such circumstances, his core challenge will be nothing less than to re-create a sense of national purpose and strength, after a period of drift, decline, and disastrous mistakes.
Holbrooke, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, suggests that repairing the domestic economy will be the most pressing issue facing the next president and that will then provide the foundation for restoring America's place in the world.
