All of us believe we own the U.S. presidential elections. Globally, there is great sensitivity to the possibility of America’s political intervention in a country’s domestic politics. Often that is more a product of a politically motivated paranoia than it being any real prospect. The fear is mostly pure projection; we want to be involved in U.S. politics.
I used to dine out in Washington, D.C., on a piece of Pew Research done for the 2008 presidential election. The question was asked around the globe whether the respondent was “interested in the U.S. presidential election.” In the United States 83 percent surveyed revealed themselves so focused. The Australian response was 84 percent.
We were more interested in their politics than they were. Many other countries were pretty close to us on the measure.
Generally, the presidential race teases out reactions among foreign observers as candidates reveal their approaches to global leadership. Discussion revolves around the degree of unilateralism or collegiality expressed by the candidates in how they propose to manage American leadership.
