U.S. ALLIES, FOES WATCH FOR WHAT’S NEXT
Foreign leaders keep wary eye on presidential race
As the U.S. presidential election map took shape — amid concerns about a possible drawn-out count in some states — the world was watching and weighing about what could come next for U.S. foreign policy toward allies in Europe, rivals such as China and Russia, and outright foes such as Iran.
Over the past four years, President Donald Trump has upended the principles that have guided U.S. foreign policy for decades.
He has withdrawn the United States from multilateral agreements, including the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear deal, and set in motion a U.S. pullout from the World Health Organization amid a global pandemic. On other fronts, Trump has started trade wars, restricted immigration and curtailed refugee resettlement.
Trump knows the world is watching. “China wants me out, Iran wants me out, Germany wants me out, they all want me out,” he said at a campaign rally Saturday. “But here we are, right?”
Joe Biden has said that one of his first acts as president would be to “get on the phone with the heads of state and say, ‘ America’s back, you can count on us.’”
But Biden also noted that the United States — and the world — needs patience as the votes are tallied, including many mail-in ballots. He said in Wilmington, Del., that he will wait until “there’s something to talk about” — which could be a day or more after polls close.
Russian hopes for a Trump victory were ref lected by pro-Kremlin media, which emphasized the idea that U.S. democracy is fraying, facing likely post
election violence or wider internal conf licts.
In Europe, where Trump is deeply unpopular in most countries, some looked to the potential for a transatlantic reset. Others viewed U.S. political fissures with worry.
“Hatred has found its way into the (U.S.) political system. There is no longer a center, only polarization,” tweeted the chairman of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Norbert Röttgen.
In private, European leaders said they were bracing for uncertainty. One senior European official sent a “fingers crossed” emoji when asked about the election. The official sent the message on the condition of anonymity for fear of incurring Trump’s wrath.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted an endorse
ment of Biden, following years of public clashes with Trump.
Many media outlets abroad are covering the election much as they would national elections in their own countries. The German newspaper Bild built an Oval Office replica from which to broadcast online coverage.
In Canada, citizens and lawmakers have been keeping an anxious eye on what the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. called the country’s “second-favorite spectator sport.”
On the southern border, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador declined to comment on the election, saying that would constitute interference in the neighboring country’s affairs.
Brazilian analysts offered intricate tutorials on
U.S. politics, mapping out the potential economic and political implications. “Today is the most important day in decades for the future of global democracy,” Brazilian journalist Guilherme Amado tweeted Tuesday.
Allies of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has made stronger ties with Trump the cornerstone of his foreign policy, warned that a victory for Biden would jeopardize Brazil’s dominion over the Amazon rainforest. Biden has threatened economic costs if Brazil does not slow deforestation.
As results rolled in, Chinese state media covered the U.S. election disparagingly.
State-run tabloid Global Times declared the election looked like one in a developing nation. Ming Jinwei, deputy foreign editor of the
state-run Xinhua news agency, described the United States as “without hope.”
“It is clear that the United States has problems with national competitiveness and social governance capacity, and that it needs serious and profound internal reforms,” said a Global Times editorial, applying Chinese Communist Party lingo in its description of the United States.
By mid-morning Wednesday, #USelection had been viewed 3.4 billion times on Chinese social platform Weibo.
Many analysts predicted that a Biden win could usher in a diplomatic respite. But some were also gloomy about the long-term prospects for China-U.S. relations.
“We hope after Biden comes back, we can at least resume high-level dialogue,” said Ding Yifan, a former adviser to China’s cabinet. “Biden wants to compete with China but also collaborate, and that’s how we frame the relationship, too. To see the democratic system in the world’s most powerful country go off the rails is not a good thing.”
For some pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, Trump has become a symbol of opposition to Chinese oppression. In Taiwan, some are worried that Biden would go too far down the path of conciliating China.
The U.S. relationship with the Middle East is also hanging in the balance. Trump pulled the United States out of a nuclear agreement that the Obama administration and other world powers negotiated with Iran, and brought harsh U.S. sanctions to exert “maximum pressure” on the Iranian government.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the election outcome would make no difference to Tehran’s foreign policy, and he mocked Trump for predicting fraudulent results. “This shows the ugly face of liberal democracy within American society,” he said.
In Israel, observers said a Biden win could accelerate the end of the current compromise government in Jerusalem and lead to elections in months.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has made his relationship with President Trump a key selling point to the Israeli electorate,” said Jason Pearlman, a communications strategist.
Many international observers expressed concerns for U.S. democracy and whether it could withstand the strain of the country’s deep rifts.
“I hope for an outcome like what we have learned from the Americans: that the rules of democracy are accepted by everyone,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Tagesspiegel newspaper on Sunday.