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The advent of every new administration presents America with the opportunity to press the "reset button" for foreign policy - if it were only that simple! America's foreign policy, no matter who sits in the Oval Office, is always affected by decisions made by the previous administration, and all those that came before.

The Foreign Policy Association has produced this Guide, written by FPA blogger Mark Dillen, to examine ten of the leading foreign policy challenges that will face the Obama administration.

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1. IRAQ

What should determine the pace of withdrawal of American troops from Iraq?

Until the meltdown on Wall Street in the fall sent the economy to the top of the list of voter concerns, the war in Iraq was one of the most important issues in the presidential campaign. And however the economy fares in the months ahead, Iraq, along with Afghanistan, will certainly be among President-elect Obama's most critical challenges.

2. AFGHANISTAN

What should the U.S. and NATO do to ensure that the gains in this key front in the war against terrorism are not lost?

In the last two years, there have been increasing signs that the progress Afghanistan has made since the Taliban's ouster in 2001 is at risk. Indeed, as American casualties have decreased in Iraq in recent months, they've been on the rise in Afghanistan. Resurgent Taliban fighters, using suicide bombers and roadside bombs, have stepped up attacks against U.S. and NATO forces throughout the country, taking advantage of the mountainous and largely uncontrolled area on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border for sanctuary.

3. ENERGY

Higher oil prices demonstrate the danger of continued American dependence on unreliable sources of foreign oil.

The United States is the world's largest economy and the world's largest consumer of energy. For most of the 20th century, the fact that the U.S. was also a major producer of energy—coal, oil, and natural gas—insulated Americans from concerns about being dependent upon foreign sources of energy.

4. CLIMATE CHANGE

What should the U.S. do, on its own and with the rest of the world, to address a problem of global proportions?

As recently as a year ago, Washington's official position was that while the Earth's climate was changing, it might not be the result of human activity. Now, however, there seems to be a broad consensus among both Republicans and Democrats that global warming is a distinct phenomenon—aggravated, if not principally caused by, human activity, such as burning carbon and hydro-carbon as fuel.

5. CHINA

As China begins to fl ex its muscles on the world stage, its relationship with the U.S. becomes even more important.

The relationship between the United States and China is one of the most important in the world. In the last 30 years, China has emerged as a major world power - first economically, and now diplomatically and militarily.

6. RUSSIA

How should the United States and its European allies deal with a newly-emboldened Russia?

After meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in 2001, President George W. Bush said, “I looked the man in the eye [and] found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy.” Lately, however, there hasn't been much trust in U.S.- Russian relations.

7. IRAN

How should the United States, and the world, deal with Iran's nuclear program and its other troubling policies?

In the nuclear era, American presidential candidates have sometimes found it useful to take tough rhetorical stands against America's potential adversaries. Once elected, however, things sometimes turn out differently.

8. DARFUR

Will the U.S. be able to stop what the Bush administration has labeled “genocide” in Africa?

When asked about his biggest regret as President, Bill Clinton often cites his administration's failure to respond to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda in which more than a half million people were killed in months of ethnic violence against Tutsi civilians.

9. TRADE

Should the U.S. renegotiate NAFTA and other trade agreements in an attempt to protect American workers?

10. IMMIGRATION

How can the U.S. deal with illegal immigration and reform the legal immigration process to attract the talent we need?

The United States is rightly known as a nation of immigrants, but today it has an immigration problem.