With Barack Obama set to become the forty-fourth president of the United States today, analysts of international affairs are looking ahead at the policy measures the new administration will seek to implement. A new Daily Analysis from CFR.org examines the landscape, noting that Obama will take office bolstered by goodwill at home and abroad, but that he will instantly be confronted by a dizzying series of challenges. Obama’s most urgent priority, it seems, will be passing a sweeping economic stimulus package, the details of which Democratic lawmakers unveiled late last week. But the new administration will also be tasked with overseeing an orderly drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq; finding a way forward in Afghanistan; managing tense and potentially volatile situations in South Asia and the Middle East; and forging a strategy for dealing with nuclear North Korea and an Iranian state bent on developing a nuclear energy program, and perhaps nuclear weapons. The Economist examines several of these issues and the leaders Obama has appointed to oversee their management in a new article and accompanying interactive graphic.

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President-elect Barack Obama told USA Today, in an interview published Thursday, he plans to appoint a team to address the crisis in Gaza immediately after his inauguration.

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Anticipating policy changes once President-elect Barack Obama takes office, military commanders are preparing a new plan (IHT) for a faster U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.

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The Wall Street Journal looks at new questions surrounding Barack Obama’s nominee to head the U.S. Treasury, Timothy Geithner.

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The U.S. Congress opens confirmation hearings today for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), whom President-elect Barack Obama has nominated to serve as secretary of state. Reuters says a smooth hearing is expected, though Clinton is likely to face questions about the foreign business dealings of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who recently revealed that some foreign governments have been major donors to his foundation.

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President-elect Barack Obama says it “is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize” to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He told ABC News in an interview Sunday he was committed to closing the center but it would take time and must be done “in a way that doesn’t result in releasing people who are intent on blowing us up.”

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President-elect Barack Obama is expected to announce his intelligence team (AP) at a press conference this morning in Washington.

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President-elect Barack Obama has a plan to overhaul the Bush administration’s domestic counterterrorism program, the New York Time reports. Under the plan, the duties of the homeland security adviser would be transfered to the National Security Council.

After meeting with his top economic advisers on Tuesday, President-elect Barack Obama warned of the potential of “trillion-dollar deficits for years to come” (NYT). He promised to enforce tighter fiscal discipline in his government.

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President-elect Barack Obama has reportedly chosen Leon Panetta (San Jose Mercury News), former chief of staff to Bill Clinton, as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Obama also tapped retired Adm. Dennis Blair to be director of national intelligence. 

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