COVER: 'Our Time For Change Has Come.' (Atlantic and Pacific editions). Barack Obama's victory in Iowa has made not only news but also history. In an election to choose a successor to an unpopular incumbent at an hour of danger, an African-American candidate for U.S. president convincingly won a state that is virtually all white. Senior White House Correspondent Richard Wolffe and Newsweek's political team report that Obama's high-minded themes of hope and change-and not getting your hands dirty-can come off as earnest, even naïve in the world of hardball presidential politics. But Obama is also a streetwise Chicago politician who put together a campaign machine formidable enough to take on the Clintons and win. But for a more direct, unvarnished approach to politics, his wife Michelle has thrown herself into the cause and the competition. Where Obama emphasizes hope and self-belief in his stump speech, Michelle Obama throws down a challenge to voters to step up.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84581

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080106/NYSU003 )

'A Measure of Our Progress.' Wolffe talks with Sen. Barack Obama a day after winning the Iowa caucus, about what his win in a predominantly white state says about America today. "It means that America is hungry for change... You know, when the American people get it in their minds that they have the power to change things, it's very hard to stop them."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84474

The Pilot Versus the Preacher. Editor-at-Large Evan Thomas and White House Correspondent Holly Bailey report that John McCain and Mike Huckabee have been exceedingly polite to each other, aiming their scorn at Mitt Romney. Openly praising each other while slyly knifing a mutual foe can work for a while. But if Romney goes down in New Hampshire and McCain and Huckabee roar into South Carolina on January 19 as the two frontrunners, the love fest between them could be long over. Newsweek reports that McCain and Huckabee face the maverick's dilemma. Both McCain and Huckabee are refreshingly free-spirited and capable of rising above the dreariness and sordidness of the stump. But both are human, at times a little too cute, and susceptible to self-defeating behavior.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84582

COVER: Just Like Bolivar. (Latin American edition only). Latin America Regional Editor Joseph Contreras looks at the similarities between Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and Simon Bolivar's political careers. Contreras reports that Chavez is following a similar path as his hero, from attempts to unify Latin American countries to his meddling in the politics of other countries. This behavior, however, is slowly costing him popularity and influence. If history is any guide, the rough patch Chavez is currently experiencing is likely to continue.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84500

The World's Cheapest Wheels. Special Correspondent Jason Overdorf reports that Tata Motors-best known as a maker of industrial trucks from India-will unveil the vehicle of the future, its People's Car, this week, throwing down the gauntlet in the highly competitive race to capture the first-time-buyer segment of the world's automobile market. Tata's not-so-secret weapon: the car is cheap. Costing less than 100,000 rupees (about $2,500 in today's dollars), rival carmakers said it couldn't be done.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84503

Al Qaeda's Newest Triggerman. Special Correspondent Sami Yousafzai and South Asia Bureau Chief Ron Moreau profile Baitullah Mehsud-a Pakistani man who is being blamed for most of the recent suicide bombings in Pakistan and Benazir Bhutto's assassination-the newest Enemy No. 1 in the War on Terror, has transformed his clan's mountainous badlands in the northwest corner of Pakistan into a safe haven for Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and outlawed Pakistani jihadists.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84535

All Sizzle But No Steak. Special Correspondent Tracy McNicoll reports that over the past eight months, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has given the impression of a fresh new leader hungry for change, charging through reforms that, in his own words, were merely the "appetizer." But while observers give the rookie president kudos for keeping his electoral promises, Sarkozy has proved to be far more flash than substance. Sarkozy seems to be on the move, making announcements, jetting around the world, promoting big symbols of French reform-but leaving scant opportunity to assess the outcome.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84499

When Greens Go Corporate. London Reporter William Underhill reports that in the new green-tinted world, businesses and environmental groups are edging ever closer, with collaboration replacing confrontation. Pressure from big investors and consumers, as well as a stream of new regulation, means companies can no longer afford to ignore eco-concerns. This shift has opened up a new and sometimes lucrative niche, offering businesses help in such areas as developing sustainable supply chains or cutting emissions. Many argue that corporate funding of green NGOs makes sense, but befriending the old enemy entails tricky compromises that hard-line greens still hesitate to accept.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84501

GLOBAL INVESTOR: It's All About Real Estate. Holger Schmieding, the chief European economist of the Bank of America writes that global investors are bracing themselves for a rough winter. While the U.S. housing market continues to implode, losses related to U.S. mortgages are rattling financial institutions around the world, he writes. "Some of the once hot property markets outside the United States are following Uncle Sam's lead by turning south as well-for instance, in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain. To make matters worse, high gas and food prices have spoiled the mood of consumers on both sides of the Atlantic." The storm he predicts, however, will probably not last long.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84506

WORLD VIEW: What People Will Die For. Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria writes that the violence that has erupted related to elections around the world lately suggest that rather than unify regions, elections can exacerbate divisions. "Globalization and democratization are the broad trends of the day, and both have the effect of empowering small groups within countries and weakening the nation-state," Zakaria writes. "Gujarat can prosper without much reference to or help from New Delhi. The Sindhis can maintain their sense of identity far better today-with the proliferation of regional television, Web-based communities and cheap communication-than ever before ... In such circumstances, the pull of old identities-all of them much older than the nation-state-dominates politics."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84536

LAST WORD: Gen. David Petraeus, Commanding General of the Multi-National Force in Iraq. Iraq has seen the most dramatic turnaround since the 2003 invasion under Gen. David Patraeus' watch and he is the first to admit that it owes much to decisions taken by Sunni insurgents and Shiite cleric Moqtada al- Sadr's militia to suspend attacks. Patreaeus also wrestled with the idea of talking to people who had attacked and maybe even killed Americans. "There were many [conversations] as we all sort of tried to come to grips with this ... I think [many Sunnis] just sort of woke up and said, 'What were we thinking?'" he tells Newsweek. "By the way, take none of this to be optimistic or pessimistic. [We] should be realistic at this point, and the reality of Iraq is that it's very hard."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/84537 SOURCE Newsweek

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