Adversaries Who Could Test U.S.

Vice President-elect Joseph Biden said Barack Obama would be quickly tested by a dangerous world, with the test coming from anywhere. In a possible warning not to underestimate him, Obama has filled his national security team with centrists and relative hawks. And his willingness to talk to America's adversaries will actually make their lives harder. "What Obama absolutely must prove early on in his administration is that he cannot be played for a patsy, that he has the strength ... and that he understands his No. 1 duty is as commander in chief and protector of the United States," said Robin Niblett, the director of Chatham House, the London-based think tank. Obama's foreign policy test might come from anywhere, but there are signs that some of America's most strident foes are not eager for a fight.

RUSSIA

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, quickly dropped their hard-line stance after threatening to place short-range missiles near Poland in response to the Bush administration's backing of a missile-defense shield.

Three weeks after Obama's victory, Medvedev talked to Obama by phone and said he was looking for "constructive, partnerlike relations" and that "The conversation I had with the president-elect allows me to expect a similar U.S. approach."

IRAN

Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who sent Obama a congratulatory letter, is facing a stiff re-election fight in 2009 amid double-digit unemployment and 30 percent inflation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran continues to enrich uranium and is about halfway to having enough for a nuclear bomb, and unless it backs down, relations with the United States are unlikely to improve.

CUBA

Raul Castro said he was willing to meet the new president on neutral ground. His brother, Fidel, tempered expectations of a change in U.S. policy or a lifting of the decades-old embargo, but called Obama a "smart man."

VENEZUELA

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez drew parallels to John F. Kennedy even as he welcomed Russian warships into the Caribbean for joint naval exercises. Chavez's conflict with the United States has intensified since he accused the Bush administration of backing a failed 2002 coup against him. He now says he would be willing to consider a trip to Washington for talks with Obama, but also hopes Obama does not turn into "one more imperialist" and wants him "to honor his race."

NORTH KOREA

North Korea's state-run media have refrained from their usual anti-American rhetoric. They haven't commented on Obama's pledge to sit down with adversaries, but analysts say it has gotten Pyongyang's attention.

"North Korea certainly has good feelings about Obama," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University. "But does it mean that the North will stake everything on Obama and try to curry favor with him? No way."

AL-QAIDA

One organization that clearly hasn't softened is al-Qaida, whose No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, slurred Obama as a "house Negro" who had betrayed his black heritage and his father's faith.

"You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims and pray the prayer of the Jews, although you claim to be Christian, in order to climb the rungs of leadership in America," his audiotaped message said.

Some analysts say the tape shows al-Qaida's desperation, having launched no attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001, and having alienated some followers by killing so many Muslims in attacks elsewhere.