1. Barack Obama: His world tour helped to both erase a lot of doubts about his leadership capability and to relegate John McCain’s campaign to a sidenote. It also helps that his appearances abroad marks one of the few times Americans got an excellent reception from foreign citizens.
2. Terrorism: Over 100 dead and over 1000 injured in one month? Progress as usual for the next methodology of fighting.
3. Íngrid Betancourt: After six years she’s finally free, and in a classic military operation to boot. No loss of face for anyone besides FARC, and a positive boost to the ability of governments around the world for fighting insurgencies.
