A few weeks ago Joe Biden, Barak Obama's running mate, predicted that an Obama administration would face a major foreign policy test within months.
That test has come within a day of the election - from Russia.
In his first state of the nation address, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, launched into a scathing criticism of US foreign policy, describing it as "selfish".
He harshly criticised the United States, blaming America for the war in Georgia and the global financial crisis.
Russian-US relations are at their frostiest since the Cold War and Mr Medvedev announced a plan to counter America's anti-missile system based in part in Eastern Europe.
Russia has now pledged to electronically jam the US missile shield and it has scrapped plans to stand down three missile regiments.
And in an extremely provocative move, the Russian President says he will deploy short range missiles in the country's Baltic Sea territory between NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
"In order to neutralise, if needs be, the US missile defence system, the Iskander missile system will be deployed in the Kaliningrad region. Naturally we envisage that the resources of the Russian navy will be used for this purpose as well," Mr Medvedev said.
But he insists it is not an anti-American policy and has called on Mr Obama to take the initiative in improving ties between the two countries.
"I would like to stress we have no problems with the American people. We don't have innate anti-Americanism and we hope that our partners, the new US administration, will make a choice in favour of fully-fledged relations with Russia," Mr Medvedev said.
The director of the Russian Centre at St Antony's College at Oxford University, Dr Alex Pravda, says it was no accident that Mr Medvedev made his speech a day after the US election.
"I think the time was not accidental as the Russians would say," he said.
"It hits both the American public in terms of not supporting any more measures of the kind they regard as offensive under the old lame duck administration, but mainly positions Russia in terms of the new administration."
Dr Pravda describes Mr Medvedev's announcement about deploying missiles between Poland and Lithuania as an "offence stance tactic".
"He is sending a message that really America has to reconsider expanding facilities in Europe. That Russia won't tolerate this without making equally offensive responses and is determined to go forward with this," he said.
"But I think it is with an aim to look at engaging and negotiating with a new American administration, so this is a typically sort of tough Russian tactic to start negotiating on the ground about these missile deployments and military deployments generally in Europe."
Dr Pravda says Russia wants "attention" and a "degree of respect" from the new US president.
"It wants engagement on both military issues, where Russia has an in-built advantage. This is why it is pushing the military agenda," he said.
"That is the only agenda where the United States is likely to take Moscow seriously as a senior partner, as a senior great power.
"It wants to be included in international discussions on reforming the financial and economic system but it may well, this kind of hard language may well be counter-productive I think from Moscow's point of view.
"It is not the best way to do it but they tend to go for the tough stance rather than for the moderate one."