This Region is:
The Middle East and Africa
This is quite possibly the most important region in the world when it comes to the effect it has on the American public, foreign policy, and vice versa. Iraq has obviously been the main issue in the election. But that’s not the only thing going on. There is the influence the US has on Israel, and the Palestinian conflict. There is Iran, a so called member of the “Axis of Evil”. Syria, the “other” Baath regime in the region that sympathized with Saddam Hussein and is now on the USs’ radar. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan. All major allies of the US. And then of course there is Bin Laden. “That Guy”… who’s somehwere “Out There”.
The Arab and wider Muslim world is arguably the most important when it comes to the reaction to this election and the subsequent president. They are the focus of the War on Terror. They have the “bad rap” so to speak. And most importantly, they are the major Source of terrorists. It is they who go to Palestine, Chechnya, Iraq, and elsewhere.
That is the well that the coming President will need to dry up.
You may not think so, but I believe Africa to be a central player in determining US Foreign Policy, and the war on Terror as well. There is a very sizable Muslim population… but more importantly there are still safe havens for terror groups like AQ in the Sudan and probably Somalia. The Darfur crisis is a strange parallel to that scenario.
And who knows, with the increasingly coordinated, and managed nature of the African Union as a whole. To be blunt, they seem to finally be getting their act together in their own backyards. The result could be a new emerging power in that corner of the world.
News sources:
Al Jazeera – the Infamous Arab Satellite Channel
Haaretz Daily – an Israeli newspaper
Abu Dhabi – another Arab news outlet
Iran Daily – an Iranian news source
Mail and Guardian Online – an African news outlet out of South Africa
Jerusalem Post – the major Israeli Newspaper
Live Updates:
The View from AlJazeera:
Websites give Kerry early Lead
Political web sites quoting early exit polls are giving Senator John Kerry an early lead over President George Bush in the US elections