NORTH KOREA
Mr Barack Obama has tried to distance himself from the hard-line policies President George W. Bush adopted in his first term to deal with North Korea's nuclear weapons. Mr Obama has played up his willingness to continue direct talks with North Korea, which Mr Bush himself has now embraced. Obama speaks of a need to 'develop a strong international coalition' to eliminate North Korea's atomic weapons.
Mr John McCain has sought to portray Mr Obama as naive and has criticised Mr Obama's statement, early in the campaign, that he would be willing to meet, without precondition, with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il; Mr Obama's campaign later said such a meeting would come only after diplomatic spadework. Mr McCain has indicated skepticism about whether North Korea's 'totalitarian regime' is 'truly committed to verifiable denuclearisation.'
PAKISTAN
Mr Barack Obama has said he would authorise unilateral military action if al-Qaida terrorists were found in Pakistan 'if Pakistan cannot or will not act' against them. He describes Afghanistan and Pakistan as 'the central front in our war against al-Qaida' and has said he will 'join with our allies in insisting - not simply requesting - that Pakistan crack down on the Taliban, pursue Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants and end its relationship with all terrorist groups.'
Mr John McCain has repeatedly criticised Mr Obama's comments about taking unilateral action in Pakistan, saying, in an Oct 7 debate, for instance, that Mr Obama 'wants to announce that he?s going to attack Pakistan.' Mr McCain said late last year that 'the United States must help Pakistan resist the forces of extremism by making a long-term commitment to the country. This would mean enhancing Pakistan's ability to act against insurgent safe havens.'
CHINA
Both Mr Barack Obama and Mr John McCain have portrayed China occasionally as a partner but more often as adversary. They have attacked Beijing for what they see as China's failure to live up to its duties as an emerging global superpower, reflecting American voters' increasing worry about China's huge military buildup, its flood of goods into the United States and its unwillingness to exert its sizeable influence in Sudan to reverse the disaster in the Darfur region and elsewhere. They also have recognised that the United States needs China, a veto-holding member of the UN Security Council, to secure punishment for Iran's nuclear program and to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. -- AP