Even the French were following the swing counties in this year's presidential election to understand which states Obama would have to win to be re-elected - they celebrated his victory like it was their own.

"You couldn't open a newspaper, TV or any media without an article/interview about what was happening in the U.S.," said Gauthier Acket, a senior manager at KPMG in Paris. "Everybody now knows where Ohio is and the number of voters per county."

Acket said the race between Romney and Obama had been the main focus of the French media for a few weeks and was  followed as closely as the French elections.

"It sure was followed here in France and much more than the change in leadership in China which I think is an interesting comparison," said Acket.

Unlike many Americans, the French were not too worried about a possible Romney election.

"I believe that a lot of people thought that it would be more likely for Obama to be re-elected than to lose," Acket said. "The fact that he could be the only main leader to be reelected in the difficult economic environment was also seen as an interesting topic."

Although the results came out too late for the papers, Acket said Obama's re-election was all the buzz in Paris Wednesday morning and French citizens and politicians alike were extremely pleased. 

And Parisiens weren't the only ones joyously celebrating President Obama's re-election. Supporters from the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, to Obama's step-grandmother's village in Kenya, were excited about the President's victory.

And like many Americans, international leaders, fans and critics expect more from Obama's second term, particularly in terms of the economy. CNN reported that Obama supporters in Africa "implored [the president] to work on reducing the U.S.'s deficit."

Many Japanese citizens expressed happiness and relief, given Japan's territorial dispute with China.

"There are at least two towns in Japan named 'Obama,' which means 'little beach' in Japanese, who are cheering today," reported Japan Today. 

Japanese analysts, however, are concerned that the weak U.S. dollar will continue to keep the yen high and hurt Japanese exports.

Though European citizens and leaders applauded Obama's return, European businesses were not as enthused.

"The business community felt that the Obama administration ignored them," Fred B. Irwin, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, told the New York Times.

Irwin explained that the business community was hoping for a president cut from the same cloth, and their support for Romney was "no secret."

Wth the European financial crisis taking a significant toll on many nations - Spain's unemployment rate is nearly 26 percent and more than one in four people are out of work in Greece - businesses and citizens alike worry that the U.S.'s potential "fiscal cliff" will have serious repercussions for them as well.

European companies that heavily rely on their U.S. exports expressed concern that the looming "cliff" would suddenly halt U.S. government spending, as the U.S. remains the biggest customer for European imports.

Despite economic concerns, Europeans were happy to have President Obama back in office and hope that he will address pressing issues worrisome to Europeans, such as a better relationship with Russia, negotiate with Iran, and push for peace between Israel and Palestine.

Europeans also view the President more capable of handling the international stage than Romney.

Obama is more moderate," Xavi Ca_igueral, a Spanish political advisor, told the New York Times. With him as president, "there is a better chance of countries getting along."

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu also congratulated Obama's return, stating, "The strategic alliance between Israel and the U.S. is stronger than ever. I will continue to work with President Obama in order to assure the interests that are vital to the security of the citizens of Israel."

Reactions in the Middle East and Russia were much more reserved, however.

Mohammad Shtayyeh, Aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: "President Obama has spent four years in office, unfortunately he hasn't done much for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. On the other hand, we have seen Romney making statements that are really not helpful at all in the peace process, very biased toward the issue of Israel. In the debate on foreign policy, Israel was mentioned 32 times; there was no mention whatsoever of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, so it seems to us really we have to choose between the bad and the worst."

Iran and the U.S. also have a more "frenemy" type relationship, and Iranian leaders said patching things up would "not happen over night," or be an easy road.

"Four years ago, Obama ... announced he would extend the hand of cooperation to Iran," said Iran's Judicial Chief Sadegh Larijani, according to the official IRNA news agency. "But he pursued a different path and imposed unprecedented sanctions and it is natural the Iranian people will never forget such crimes."

Iranian leaders called Obama's sanctions "crippling," and do not expect Obama's re-election to bring much respite to the tense relationship.

Afghanistan was also not so jazzed. Afghanis hoped the President would put more pressure on Pakistan and crack down on terrorist centers, which are still active across the border.

Afghanis also mentioned that the slow and thorny pullout of American troops could cause more terrorist attacks when the troops leave in 2014.

Russia also gave a brief, terse nod to Obama's victory. Though Obama promised to show Russians a bit more leniency in terms of missile defense, Russian leaders are not expecting the relationship to move in a positive direction anytime soon.

Viktor Kremeniuk, deputy director of the official Institute of USA-Canada Studies in Moscow, said, "things have deteriorated badly in reality under Obama.... After all this, many of my colleagues and I had already come around to the view that not much would change after the election, regardless of which candidate won."

"At this point, we would consider it a good scenario if things don't go badly wrong between us in Obama's second term," he added.

Even though Obama's relationship in conflict zones remains curt, the overall reaction from the international community was positive, and even ecstatic, many even sighed with relief.

"We hope this victory for President Obama will make him free more to make the right decision to help freedom and dignity in Syria and all over the world," said George Sabra, a spokesman from the Syrian National Council.

People from around the world see him as a flexible, moderate leader, and hope that the election victory will give President Obama another chance at change.

 

Reach Staff Reporter Brianna Sacks here.