Overseas, Excitement Over Obama

British papers heralded Obama's victory in the Democratic race. Reaction was not enthusiastic everywhere; Israel and China have policy concerns. (By Kirsty Wigglesworth -- Associated Press)

But in Samarra, a Sunni stronghold north of Baghdad, Omar Shakir, 58, a political analyst, said he hoped McCain would win the election and combat the influence of Shiite-dominated Iran.

In Iran, government officials have taken no official position on the race. But "the majority of Iranians feel that the Democrats support what they want: a major and drastic change in relations with the U.S. So for them the coming of Obama would be a good omen," said Davoud Hermidas Bavand, professor of U.S.-Iranian relations at Allameh Tabatabai University.

In Latin America, Obama's recent declaration that he would meet with Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Raúl Castro of Cuba has been widely welcomed as a break from Bush policy. Obama, though, has declared that he is not a Chávez admirer. He recently voiced strong support for Colombia in its fight against its main rebel group, which Colombian officials say receives sanctuary from Chávez.

Although Colombian officials worry that Obama will not support a free trade agreement with their country, Obama strikes a chord with ordinary Colombians because of deep resentments toward the Bush administration's policies, including the Iraq war. "My number one wish is that Bush be gone," said Salud Hernández, a popular radio pundit in Bogota. An Obama presidency, she said, would be "a positive turn because of what Bush represented to the world."

Not everyone has been riveted by the U.S. election.

Interviews suggested that the Chinese public, absorbed by the recent earthquake in Sichuan province and preparations for the Beijing Olympics in August, paid little attention. And Russians have proved supremely indifferent; one poll earlier this year found that only 5 percent said they were closely watching the race. Of 40 people approached Wednesday on the streets of Moscow, only five had any opinion on the race or knew who was running.

Still, some Russians hope that a new American president will improve strained relations between Washington and Moscow. "Barack Obama looks like the candidate that can be expected to take the greatest strides towards Russia," Konstantin Kosachev, a member of parliament, wrote in the newspaper Kommersant. "Unlike McCain he's not infected with any Cold War phobias."

Contributing to this report were correspondents Ellen Knickmeyer in Cairo; Blaine Harden in Tokyo; Stephanie McCrummen in El Fashir, Sudan; Griff Witte in Jerusalem; Amit R. Paley in Baghdad; Peter Finn in Moscow; Monte Reel in Buenos Aires; Candace Rondeaux in Islamabad, Pakistan; Juan Forero in Bogota; Rama Lakshmi in New Delhi; Edward Cody in Beijing; and Thomas Erdbrink in Tehran; and special correspondents Karla Adam in London, Shannon Smiley in Berlin, Akiko Yamamoto in Tokyo, Stella Kim in Seoul, Allan Akombo in Kisumu, and Samuel Sockol and Sufian Taha in Jerusalem.