Richard Holbrooke's successor as Washington's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan will inherit intractable problems not even the "bulldozer" of U.S. diplomacy was able to resolve. The increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan, inseparably intertwined with Pakistan where Taliban fighters have so long been able to seek sanctuary, has baffled U.S. diplomats, politicians and military commanders for nine years.

Susan Glasser, Foreign Policy's editor in chief, met Foreign Minister Celso Amorim in Brasilia for a wide-ranging conversation on Brazil's role as the rest rises. Below, the edited excerpts.

While foreign policy issues played almost no role in Tuesday's election results, the historic Republican landslide will almost certainly make Barack Obama's vision of a more positive U.S. role in international affairs more difficult to pursue.

Turkey is not wavering in the slightest from its pro-European course. Nevertheless, as a trading nation with a dynamic economy that is the living proof of the fact that Islam, a secular political landscape and a parliamentary democracy are indeed compatible, it has in recent times rediscovered its Arab neighbours.

In France and some other countries, Tuesday's voting had been seen as a test for Obama, cheered around the world before taking office. As former Danish Foreign Minister Mogens Lykketoft said, "American politics will be locked." But foreign policy isn't likely the top casualty, many opinion makers said.

President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration ushered in a new era that sought for America to re-engage with the world. Two years later it still stands in stark contrast to eight years of President George W. Bush’s unilateralism and reputation for cowboy diplomacy. But what happens to the spirit of Obama’s foreign policy if Republicans capture control of Congress?

Before the 2008 election, two former national security advisers recommended that the next president should craft a foreign-policy strategy to align the United States with a "global political awakening" that was transforming the world.

Almost two years into the Obama presidency, there is a discernible shift in the administration's foreign policy. If Phase One was about repairing America's image around the world by showing a friendlier face to everyone, especially adversaries, Phase Two will be about wielding renewed American influence, even if it means challenging some and disappointing others.