With the latest public opinion polls showing the race between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney a dead heat, the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election in the United States is anyone’s guess.

What is certain, however, is that main foreign policy challenges facing the next US administration are located within a brief flying time from Abu Dhabi and are of critical concern to the UAE and the other nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Some 2,000 kilometres to the north-west is Damascus, where Syrian president Bashar Al Assad fights to hold on to power against a formidable rebel challenge backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and to a lesser extent, the United States.

Read Here – The National