"The Economist does not have a vote, but if it did, it would cast it for Mr Obama.. Wholeheartedly," the weekly said in its endorsement.

Acknowledging that the Afro-American was short on experience, particularly on the foreign policy front, the magazine said the Illinois senator had nevertheless displayed willingness to induct experienced advisers into his team.

"He seems a quick learner and has built up an impressive team of advisers, drawing in seasoned hands like Paul Volcker, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers," it said.

"The Democratic candidate has clearly shown he offers the better chance of restoring America's self-confidence. But we acknowledge it is a gamble... Given Mr Obama's inexperience, Yet it is one America should take," it added.

Besides drawing the emerging powers India and China into global efforts on curbing climate change and trade talks, challenges on the foreign policy front include "reselling economic and political freedom to a world that associates American capitalism with Lehman Brothers and American justice with Guantanamo Bay," it said.

Underlining that Obama's identity "is not as irrelevant as it sounds," the Economist said the 47-year-old's accession to Presidency will dispel many a myth about the US.

"Merely by becoming president, he would dispel many of the myths. It would be far harder for the spreaders of hate in the Islamic world to denounce the Great Satan if it were led by a black man whose middle name is Hussein; and far harder for autocrats around the world to claim that American democracy is a sham," the Economist said.