World Watches With Bated Breath As America Votes

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : November 4, 2020

As Americans get ready to vote on Tuesday for the presidential elections, the rest of the world is curiously watching the proceedings. As the US has a big influence on several countries due to its economic, cultural, and military ties, many people around the world are generally curious about US elections.

World Watches With Bated Breath As America Votes

However, this time, international attention is at its peak as this is going to be a tough fight between Trump, who waits for a second term, and Biden, who wants to take Americans in a new direction.

Several countries that are having good relations and not so good relations with the US are keenly looking forward to the developments in the US. Most of them are eager to know if they will be dealing with Trump again, or will they get to deal with Biden. Trump has been assertive in terms of foreign policy, and he has overturned several treaties and gone beyond traditional diplomatic protocols. On the other hand, Biden has shown his desire to return to the American foreign policy that supports human rights and extends global cooperation for the rest of the world.

According to analysts at Rabobank, a Dutch financial services firm, a victory for Biden will make way for a more constructive international collaboration on several issues between the US and Europe. This will include shared defense spending and increased global teamwork with regards to dealing with China.

Several polls conducted across Europe indicate that most people in Europe want Biden to win as they are not happy with the way Trump has dealt with the pandemic and immigration issues. In Denmark, for example, nearly 82% of the respondents felt that Trump had been a poor administrator, while the figure in Italy was 61%.

North Korea is also keenly watching the elections in the US as Kim Jong Un is favoring a Trump victory. He was actively part of many photo ops with Trump and attended various summits that aimed at giving up North Korea’s nuclear weapons. On the other hand, Kim Jong Un has not favored Biden, who has criticized North Korea for its human rights violations. Kim Jong Un even went on to call Biden a “rabid dog” in one of his statements.

Benjamin Netanyahu is also having good relations with Trump and has worked out a series of policies with the US. The Trump administration has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and even worked on a Middle East peace plan that tilts more towards Israel than Palestine. Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Danny Ayalon said that they are waiting to see if there will be a continuation of US policy towards Israel, or it will face any disruption due to change in leadership.

Canada does not seem to be too worried about the election outcome. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that they would continue to hold the same ties with the White House irrespective of who manages the White House after the elections.

Even India seems to be favoring a Trump victory as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has good relations with Trump. Apart from that, Trump has willingly offered support to India on many occasions to counter China. However, there are concerns over the immigration policies of Trump among several Indians in the US. Biden has also tried to woo the Indian community by selecting Kamala Harris as a running mate who has Indian roots. Analysts believe, however, that it would not make much difference for India even if Biden wins as they are not dependent on the US for their economic and military growth.

Political analysts in Afghanistan believe that it does not make a difference to them as both Trump and Biden are not going to favor Afghanistan in the future.

Britain analysts are closely watching the election results in the US as they believe that Trump’s friendship with Putin is not a good thing for the British people in the long run. They also worry about Trump’s move to support China to keep Britain away from the European Union.

Russia is also curious about the results, and some people in the US even believed that Russia is working hard for a Trump victory as he has close ties with Putin. However, political analysts believe that Russia has nothing to gain or lose from the US elections as there are very few business ties between the countries, and most of the people in Russia only watch the elections in the US as an entertainment event.

Australia, even though it appears to support Trump, has nothing against Biden. While Trump is favored for his foreign policies with Australia and his tough stance on China, even Biden has promised that he will continue a good partnership with other countries and have a healthy foreign policy for global collaboration. In this regard, no matter who wins, things will continue in the same direction.

Analysts in Iran are least worried as both Biden and Trump will not change their policies against Iran in the near future. Even Obama was tough on Iran and had signed several sanctions against the country. Trump did not step back on any of those sanctions and has worked aggressively to counter the dominance of Iran in every aspect.

Trump does not share good ties with China, and analysts in Beijing are not favoring Trump. However, they are not even rejecting him in favor of Biden because they know that Trump has many other problems to deal with apart from China, and he will not be able to harm them beyond a point. On the other hand, they are not sure about the tactics of Biden. In this regard, the analysts in Beijing are more than happy to keep Trump in power and distract him with other problems.

In this way, the entire world has something to lose or gain with the outcome of the US elections. For this reason, they are actively watching the US elections, and it can also have a huge impact on the global economy in the near future.


Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

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