New hope:

Inauguration day in the US will be unlike any other. Barack Obama’s qualifications to become the 44th president of the US are stellar. Yet, it is the fact that a black man will ascend the most powerful office in the world that will make today’s events such compelling viewing. There are many problems with the United States and its role in the world but the election of Obama is proof that democracy feeds on the promise of a better tomorrow.

Together with the rest of the world, we hope President Obama will be able to deliver on that promise. Re-orienting a global power, one fighting two wars, facing the threat of the worst recession since the Great Depression and clinging to the last vestiges of international goodwill, is an immense task that will almost certainly take more than four years.

Consider just one area where change could be made. Pakistan’s exports to the US are under $4bn. Lower tariffs on a wider range of products could substantially boost Pakistani exports, which would mean a boost to the economy and employment figures. However, US labour and trade politics generally militate against such concessions and Obama was not averse to using protectionist rhetoric. The tariff conundrum is just a microcosm of US-Pak relations: things can get better, but betterment depends on political will. — Dawn (Pakistan)