Explainer: What to expect from Biden's foreign policy

[President-elect Joe Biden, saying:] "America is strongest when it works with its allies."

Collegiality, allegiances and a reflex for diplomacy...

President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for two top security officials - Antony Blinken as secretary of state and Jake Sullivan as national security advisor - has given some hints to how foreign policy may play out in his term in office.

[Biden's pick for national security adviser, Antony Blinken, saying:] "We have to proceed with equal measures of humility and confidence."

The following are some of the key issues they face.

China is expected to be the main challenge.

Relations between Washington and Beijing are at their lowest in decades.

It’s thought Biden would apply a more consistent policy toward China, in contrast to Trump's at times disjointed approach.

The Biden administration is also expected to galvanize support from allies to pressure Beijing on issues such as trade, Hong Kong, the South China Sea, and human rights.

Biden's team will also be under pressure to show they aren’t reverting to Obama's approach, which critics say was naive in trying to coax Beijing into playing by the rules.

[President Obama, saying:] "We do not seek to contain China's rise."

Where things may get tougher? Russia.

Blinken said Biden believes in countering aggression by Moscow, including through sanctions.

When Biden said, quote, "The days of cozying up to dictators are over," there was little doubt he considered Putin among them.

[Biden's pick for national security adviser, Antony Blinken, saying:] "Iran made a fundamental choice."

A return of diplomacy with Tehran is expected.

Biden has said he would rejoin the nuclear deal, if Iran first resumed strict compliance.

However, returning to the original deal is no simple matter and Iran is all but certain to demand concessions.

When it comes to North Korea, Blinken has assailed Trump's engagement with Kim Jong Un, saying their summits failed to yield progress and has left the United States in greater danger than before.

Blinken has promised to press China for economic pressure to get Pyongyang to the negotiating table.

Finally, Biden will face tough decisions on Afghanistan, where Trump is cutting the number of U.S. forces almost in half, reducing leverage with Taliban insurgents.

Blinken has said open-ended U.S. deployments with no clear strategy would end.

But such decisions will depend on military assessments and consultation with allies, leaving the door open to a continued U.S. presence.

[Biden's pick for national security adviser, Antony Blinken, saying:] "Thank you and may god bless America."