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3. NORTH KOREA

In September, North Korea conducted its largest ever nuclear test, detonating a bomb that analysts detected had a yield equivalent to 10 kilotons of TNT. It was the reclusive country's second nuclear test this year and its fifth test since 2006.

The United States is now more concerned than ever that North Korea is closer to its goal of miniaturizing a nuclear weapon that can be placed on long-range missiles, a move that could destabilize the region and the world. Just this week a South Korean news agency reported the North Koreans announced they're preparing to test mobile-launched ICMB's, but U.S. intelligence officials would not confirm those reports.

Unlike with Iran, the U.S. has not been able to negotiate an agreement on nuclear issues. The U.S. and North Korea have virtually no diplomatic relations and China is considered the only global power with any leverage over the regime.

Considering that three of North Korea's five nuclear tests have occurred during the rule of Kim Jong-un, it's clear the dictator is undeterred by the suffocating economic sanctions imposed by foreign nations. Though China's Foreign Ministry has criticized the North Korean test and urged international dialogue, recent tensions between the United States and China over the South China Sea could suppress Chinese support for taking a more aggressive approach to the North Korean regime.

What Trump has said:In response to North Korea's latest nuclear test, Trump's spokesman Kellyanne Conway said that if Trump is elected, North Korea will know the Americans \"aren't messing around.\"

In January, after the North said it was close to being able to firing off a nuclear weapons that could reach the United States, Trump tweeted \"It won't happen,\" which has been interpreted as a possible \"red line\" for the Trump administration.

North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017

In May Trump said he would be open to the idea of allowing North Korea's neighbors, including U.S. allies South Korea and Japan, to acquire their own nuclear arsenals -- a move that would effectively nuclearize the entire region and negate the cost and justification for stationing U.S. troops in the region.

\"We cannot afford to be the military and the police for the world,\" he said at the time.

4. CLIMATE CHANGE

A report released in November by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization said that 2011-2015 was the hottest five-year period on record and that the climate has an \"increasingly visible human footprint,\" according to The Associated Press.

One year ago, nearly 200 nations signed a global pact, the Paris Agreement, to combat climate change with the shared goal of preventing global temperatures from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The U.S., along with other developed countries, will have to make good on commitments to fund new low-carbon emissions systems in countries that are complaining that the finances are not coming as promised.

But the challenges on the road to achieving this shared goal are vast -- and they begin with the United States. Already, legal cases in the U.S. Supreme Court have stalled President Obama's plan to phase out coal power plants as part of his \"Clean Power Plan.\" The delay could take years as the cases brought by various states play out.

Meeting the goals outlined in the Paris climate agreement will take significant effort both domestically and abroad.

Trump's pick to be the head of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt, said during his nomination hearing he did not believe climate change is a \"hoax\" as Trump has previously claimed, but said he was in favor of rolling back environmental regulations he claims have hurt American industries.

What Trump has said:In May of this year, Donald Trump said he would \"cancel\" U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement.

\"Any regulation that's outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers or contrary to the national interest will be scrapped and scrapped completely,\" Trump said. \"We're going to do all this while taking proper regard for rational environmental concerns.\"

As mentioned, Trump has also tweeted that global warming is a \"hoax\" perpetrated by the Chinese.

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012

While Tillerson has acknowledged climate change is a problem, ExxonMobil came under fire at its shareholders' meeting last year for rejecting resolutions that would have pushed the company’s resources toward renewable energy, according to the Washington Post.

5. TURKEY

Turkey's proximity to the conflict in Syria, ownership of a military base leased by the United States, failed attempt at a military coup, and resentment of U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria and Iraq are just some of the contributing factors to its increasingly fraught relationship with the United States.

Turkey, a NATO ally, is also accusing the United States of harboring a person that its leaders say is the equivalent of what Osama bin Laden was to the U.S. That was how the Turkish Minister of Justice described Fethullah Gulen, the cleric living in Pennsylvania and the man Turkey's government blames for inciting that failed coup this past summer. Turkey is insisting Gulen be extradited to Turkey, but the U.S. Justice Department has suggested Turkey has failed to present sufficient evidence of wrongdoing.

The Gulen movement is designated as a terrorist organization inside Turkey and Turkish President Recep Erdogan has been using the failed coup as an excuse to purge all his opposition. Disturbing accusations of imprisoning teachers and journalists and committing torture threaten the state's democracy have forced the U.S. to distance itself from the country, which has been a critical ally in the past. The tensions have created a pathway for Turkey to form partnerships with adversaries of the U.S.

Meanwhile, the U.S. relies on Turkish border control, Turkish armed forces and its military base in the fight against ISIS. A diplomatic rift with Turkey could damage U.S. efforts, though both Turkey and the U.S. have insisted they don't want that to happen.

What Trump has said:In a campaign interview with The New York Times last July, Trump applauded the Turkish president and the Turkish people for suppressing the failed coup attempt. He also said he thinks \"Turkey can do a lot against ISIS, and I would hope that if I’m dealing with them, they will do much more about ISIS.\"

Asked about Erdogan jailing tens of thousands of people and Turkey's problems with civil liberties, Trump said, \"I think it’s very hard for us to get involved in other countries when we don’t know what we are doing and we can’t see straight in our own country.\"

6. CHINA

President Trump faces three potential threats from China. First, he's said he will label China a currency manipulator and flirted with a idea of increasing tariffs. This could set off a trade war and, depending on China's response, could create economic problems on a global scale.

Second, Trump has already taken the provocative step of questioning America's One China policy, which recognizes the island of Taiwan as a part of China. After winning the election, then President-elect held an unprecedented phone call with the Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, which he says was initiated by Taiwan, that prompted the Obama administration to reaffirm its stance. U.S. policy does allow, however, for the sale of weapons to Taiwan, which it could use in a potential military conflict with the mainland.

And Third, Trump will need to decide how to confront China's militarization of disputed islands in the South China sea and its claim to Island in the East China Sea. Tillerson has said China's military actions are illegal, likening them to the taking of Crimea by Ukraine, and said the U.S. should send a signal that their action are \"not going to be allowed.\"

Chinese state media responded by saying the Trump administration risks \"large-scale war\" if it attempts to intervene.

IRAN

Trump and a number of his incoming cabinet members have suggested the new administration either ought to abandon or renegotiate the Iran nuclear deal. Vice President Pence has said he would \"rip up the Iran deal.\" But Trump's nominee for Ambassador to the United Nations, Gov. Nikki Haley, suggested during her confirmation that the U.S. would strictly enforce the terms -- which many see as a threat to dismantle it.

For instance, if the U.S. were to accuse Iran of violating the deal, sanctions could snap back into place and the deal could fall apart. If Trump is unable to negotiate a new deal, Iran would likely return to making a nuclear weapons, which even President Obama drew as a red line. Without a nuclear deal, Trump would have no option other than military force to dismantle Iran's nuclear program.

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