What does a Republican Congress mean to the rest of the world?

While the American people have officially ousted Democrats from Congress in the midterms, the international community wonders about what the future two years will hold for them, and if and what kind of support the United States will now give to its friends abroad.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - While actual changes in U.S. foreign policy may be limited, international perception seems to be that President Obama may lack the ability to act or react.

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Daniel Serwer, a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said: "I think there's a feeling that throughout the Arab world, or at least in the friendlier parts, that they want to see the U.S. playing a stronger role, and they're not happy to see a weakened president."

Some major flash points in the international community have seen very little American presence, if any. The ongoing battles against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the Ukraine-Russian conflict and the Israeli and Palestinian peace process are three major conflicts abroad, but only in Iraq and Syria have the U.S. made any major efforts to bolster allies.

Asia is another flashpoint, where Chinese aggression threatening neighbors and allies of the U.S. The potential for open hostilities to resume in the Korean peninsula is also an international cause for alarm.

Some speculate that America's relations with Iran may also suffer.

Obama's administration has been negotiating with the reclusive Muslim nations for about a year over nuclear capabilities, production and refinement, and a November deadline is looming to sign the accord.

Well before the midterm, Republicans in Congress had already "threatened to pass sanctions if negotiations broke down or Iran was caught cheating on the interim agreement, but the administration lobbied hard not to bring it to a vote," said senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, Matt Kroenig.

"It's much less likely this time that the administration's concerns will stand in the way. They might go even further now that it's been a year since the interim agreement."

A divided leadership may provide one benefit however. A Republican Congress is all in favor of further trade, and two major trade deals-the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership-are already in the works and likely will see continued Congressional support.

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