By Juma Kwayera

Americans expect President-elect Barack Obama to fix their ailing economy as soon as possible.

The credit crunch in the US is also a major global security challenge he must tackle fast to halt a potential domino effect.

And this is where East Africa and the Horn of Africa come on the US foreign policy radar.

The region’s growing notoriety as an incubator of international terrorism after Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East is a major worry.

Global security is a challenge President-elect Obama is well aware of. In his first speech after being declared the winner on Wednesday, he said he would make global security a priority of his foreign policy.

Speaking at Grant Park in his hometown of Chicago, Obama, the first black to be elected President of the US, said security was a challenge of a lifetime.

Lifetime

"It is the greatest challenge of a lifetime as there are two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century," he said.

The wars he was referring to are the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the US has used more than $2 trillion during eight years of President Bush administration.

The amount of money spent on what Obama calls "useless wars" is more than enough to hoist Africa’s population from the jaws of abject poverty.

The antipathy of Bush’s regime to global security is demonstrated in US reluctance to grant Africa – with the greatest bastion of the world’s poor – a waiver on its foreign debt estimated at $800 billion.

Africa’s poverty and subdued global trade combined with a burgeoning HIV/Aids pandemic will feature high in Obama’s administration.

Experts warn the stock of challenges offer Obama few soft-landing options.

Given the outright rejection of the Republican candidate and Arizona Senator John McCain, who anchored his campaign on fighting international terrorism, most Americans would want to see American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq return home.

Obama, who traces his ancestry to Kenya, comes into office at a time Africa is becoming the groundswell of international terrorism.

Somalia and much of the East African coast are regarded as the cusp of international insecurity that must be blunted.

Former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta, who has been advising Obama’s transition, put the challenge in perspective when he said the incoming team would have to hit the road running for it to defuse a growing anti-American sentiment.

Panetta reportedly told Obama, "Put your arm around chaos. You better damn well do the tough stuff up front, because if you think you can delay the tough decisions and tiptoe past the graveyard, you’re in for a lot of trouble. Make the decisions that involve pain and sacrifice up front."

America is experiencing its worst political and economic crisis since The Great Depression in 1934. The economy is in a shambles, while its guard against potential attack on its territory or foreign interests is a daily challenge.

Analysts say the incoming government would have to extend an olive branch to countries and governments Bush repeatedly derided as "the axis of evil" – North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan and Iraq.

The Middle East is however, any US government’s waking nightmare. In his campaign, Obama appreciated the threat posed by Iran as an emerging nuclear state.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahammednejad has vowed to wipe out Israel from the face o the earth. To counter this, Obama has promised to negotiate with the states blacklisted by the outgoing government.

"As president, I will do whatever I can to help Israel succeed in these negotiations, and success will require the full enforcement of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in Lebanon and a stop to Syria’s support for terror. It is time for this reckless behaviour to end," he said in June at a meeting with

Israeli leaders.

Gun for diplomacy

Obama was convinced even before he was nominated Democratic Party candidate that one of US’ major foreign policy flaws was convenient swapping of pork barrel with gun-power diplomacy, which characertised American foreign and security policy under President Bush.

He has therefore pledged to commit more resources and time for a permanent solution to the Middle East conflict.

"The Palestinians need a state that is cohesive and allows them to prosper, but any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel’s identity as a Jewish state with secure, recognised, defensible borders, and Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel," said Obama.

The two approaches involve rewarding rogue governments in exchange for protection of American foreign interests, but pummelling states that stand in the way of Washington’s interests.