president-elect donald trump is set to inherit one of the most complicated, high-stakes foreign-policy portfolios in a generation, stepping into a tense world as a little-known leader whose positions on key issues are largely undefined. mr. trump has suggested in speeches, interviews and statements on the campaign trail that he would reorient u.s. policy in potentially significant ways, questioning u.s. support to the north atlantic treaty organization and other historic alliances, upending trade deals and drawing closer to russian president vladimir putin. he said earlier this year that he would consider recognizing russia<u+2019>s control of ukraine<u+2019>s crimea region , forcibly seized by moscow in 2014, a step the obama administration has said the u.s. would never take. mr. trump has advanced the prospect of a reduced role for the u.s. on the world stage and has suggested that several u.s. allies including south korea, japan and saudi arabia may have to begin defending themselves<u+2014>even obtaining their own nuclear weapons<u+2014>rather than relying on the u.s. for protection. but precisely how the former businessman will assemble and execute his foreign-policy agenda remains unclear, because some of his positions have shifted over the course of his campaign. foreign leaders the world over have long expressed concern about the prospect of the consequences of a trump presidency, mostly because of campaign-trail rhetoric advocating harsher scrutiny of immigrants and u.s. allies. french president fran<u+00e7>ois hollande has said mr. trump<u+2019>s election would be dangerous, and german foreign minister frank-walter steinmeier called him a <u+201c>hate preacher<u+201d> whose politics are dangerous for the world. on tuesday before the polls closed, mr. hollande appeared to urge voters to back mrs. clinton, saying he had confidence americans would pick the candidate that <u+201c>best reflects their values, their principles, to freedom, to this relationship with france and europe.<u+201d> mr. obama repeatedly had assured world leaders from europe to asia to latin america who were nervous about a trump victory that the republican nominee would lose. he and secretary of state john kerry said international summits and meeting with world leaders, many expressed concerns about mr. trump becoming president. on the other hand, mr. trump attracted praise from mr. putin and others in russia, as well as from officials in north korea. mr. trump repeatedly disagreed publicly with conclusions of u.s. intelligence assessments that russia had hacked emails from the democratic national committee and mrs. clinton<u+2019>s campaign. the u.s. accused russia of trying to interfere with the american election process. mr. trump drew comparisons on the trail between his campaign and the movement to have the u.k. leave the european union. nigel farage, who was a leader of the pro-brexit movement, vocally supported mr. trump and campaigned for him in august in jackson, miss., and appeared at the republican national convention . as more states were called for mr. trump on tuesday evening, mr. farage said on twitter that a trump victory <u+201c>would be bigger than brexit.<u+201d> mr. trump during his campaign traveled to mexico to exhibit an ability to interact with foreign leaders, afterward drawing renewed ire from mexican officials for pledging to build a border wall to control immigration. on other issues, he has pledged to revamp the u.s. strategy against islamic state. mr. trump has given few details of his likely approach, but he said he would ramp up military action against the terror group. he has suggested the u.s. join forces with russia to confront islamic state, which isn<u+2019>t a member of the more than 60-member coalition against the extremist group. current white house officials see north korea as the most significant and high-stakes challenge facing mr. obama<u+2019>s successor. many of them privately believe the next president should order a comprehensive review of north korea policy that puts all options, including military ones, on the table. pyongyang has conducted four of its five nuclear tests during mr. obama<u+2019>s administration, most recently in september, along with tests of missiles and other weapons over the past decade. mr. trump hasn<u+2019>t discussed the threat of north korea<u+2019>s nuclear program in any detail other than to say that he thinks that the u.s. deployments to the korean peninsula haven<u+2019>t done much to counter it. the u.s. sees china as key to reining in north korea<u+2019>s nuclear program, though there is debate about how much influence beijing actually has over the secluded country<u+2019>s leader, kim jong un. but u.s.-chinese tensions over beijing<u+2019>s maritime and territorial claims in the south china sea could have repercussions for addressing north korea. mr. trump has made criticism of china a centerpiece of his message on the campaign trail, particularly as it relates to trade. but more broadly, mr. trump has questioned the value of the u.s. military presence in asia. the u.s. has 28,500 troops stationed in south korea and has significant presence in japan. he has also pledged to <u+201c>tear up<u+201d> the u.s.-led nuclear deal with iran, which took effect earlier this year. that could cause considerable uncertainty if he takes steps to try to unwind u.s. commitments to the accord. capital journal is wsj.com<u+2019>s home for election 2016 news. america<u+2019>s role in the world has grown less clear as other powers have risen in recent years, said aaron david miller, an expert at the wilson center and a former adviser to secretaries of state in both democratic and republican administrations. <u+201c>the next president is going to deal with a world that is filled with long shots, hopeless causes and mission impossibles,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>while the world may not be on fire...the world is a much less friendly place for effective projection of american military and diplomatic power.<u+201d> write to carol e. lee at carol.lee@wsj.com and felicia schwartz at felicia.schwartz@wsj.com
president-elect donald trump faces foreign-policy quandaries       - wsj
carol e. lee felicia schwartz