leadership vacuum

警察官による黒人の銃殺，それに対するデモ中に起こった警察官銃殺事件。大統領選挙を控えるアメリカ国内は今，混迷を極めています。記事はCNNからの引用です。
vacuumというと「真空, 真空状態」という意味が想起されますが，その他に「空間, 空所; 空白状態[地帯]」という意味があります（『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』小学館）。同辞書にはpower [political] vacuum（権力の[政治的]空白）という用例もあり，記事のleadership vacuumと合わせて押さえておこうと思います。（Koyamamoto）

Who can heal America?
(CNN)America is in mourning.
Raw racial tensions, live-streamed killings, strained trust between the police and communities they serve, and a presidential race that has scorched deep divides have the nation on edge and wondering if a leader will emerge from the chaos.
…The leadership vacuum raises questions about whether there will ever be a narrowing of the estrangement between African-American communities and police. It raises doubts that there will ever be room for compromise between gun-control advocates and Second Amendment absolutists or whether the criminal justice reform both Republicans and Democrats say they support will ever transit a Congress consumed by its own rancor.
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/08/politics/dallas-heal-america-obama-clinton-trump/index.html