Bush leaves a world of trouble for successor
US President George W Bush's successor inherits a world of troubles come January, including wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a defiant Iran, and a US economy battered by the global financial crisis.
The new president will take the reins of a limping superpower facing deep doubts overseas about the limits of its strength, and sharply diminished US standing even among Washington's closest friends, recent studies find.
"America's moral leadership and decision-making competence will continue to be questioned at home and abroad, despite the arrival of new leadership in Washington," a Georgetown University working group said earlier this year.
Already, both major contenders in the November 4 election -- Bush's fellow Republican and chosen successor John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama -- have denounced the vastly unpopular president's policies and promised a new course.
"Restored respect will come only with fresh demonstrations of competence," the Georgetown group said in a study of US standing in the world and the foreign policy challenges of the next administration.
Bush leaves a mountain of unfinished business. Barring perhaps unimaginable breakthroughs, it will fall to one of his successors to end the US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, herald the end of nuclear programmes in Iran and North Korea, and celebrate a lasting peace deal in the Middle East.
And the next president will certainly inherit a grim economy -- the White House this week predicted a sharp rise in unemployment, while some private-sector forecasts warn of a trillion-dollar budget deficit in 2009.
Bush will host a global crisis summit November 15 in Washington, but it will focus on laying out principles for overhauling regulations, while leaving that task and potentially the worst of the crisis to his successor.
The new president will likely face difficult decisions on Iraq. Recent US public opinion polls reveal new optimism amid decreased violence there, but most Americans still want US troops to come home as soon as possible.
And it is not clear whether US and Iraqi negotiators will agree on a long-term strategic pact and a separate deal spelling out the rights and duties of US troops before the UN mandate for their presence lapses in December.
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