U.S. foreign policy

The next U.S. president faces a messy world, from a confrontational Russia to a rising China and a fractured Middle East. NPR looks at the election year debate over America's place in the world.

"I believe in diplomacy, I believe in dialogue, I believe in engagement," the president says of Iran and other regimes perceived as U.S. enemies. But he says restoring relations is a gradual process.

President Obama cancelled a planned trip to Asia this week to deal with the political crisis at home. That's disappointed — even worried — some of America's friends in the region who are counting on the United States to stand up to an increasingly assertive China.