Rest of world to U.S.: We have a stake, too

Daniel Strieff Reporter • Profile • E-mail

LONDON - “I really wish we could vote in your election — after all, it affects all of us, you know.”

For most Americans who recently have spent time abroad, chances are they’ve heard some variation of that statement.

As the United States prepares to elect a president every four years, the rest of the world looks on with a mix of hope, trepidation and fascination — and never has that been the case more than this year’s contest between Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

With the Bush era drawing to a close, more than 150,000 U.S. troops are fighting in two war zones while the world's largest economy is reeling. Meantime, a campaign that has energized American voters also has captivated the world.

Due to the preponderance of U.S. economic, military and cultural power, U.S. elections have a far greater impact on people outside the United States than foreign elections have on Americans.

“There is quite a lot of interest in American politics … so that people feel a personal stake in which way the election goes,” said Steven Casey, a professor at the London School of Economics and an expert on U.S. foreign policy and public opinion.

Tuned in
Msnbc.com’s series, Watching America Vote, has featured reports from more than 15 countries that show how closely the world is tuned in.

• In war-weary Iraq, locals are suspicious that the U.S. candidates are offering “honey promises” that will not spur much change;
• For Israelis and Palestinians, the United States is the traditional powerbroker in peacemaking and the next president could be critical for the peace process;
• Mexicans worry about the stewardship of a U.S. economy that is intertwined with the lives of millions in America’s southern neighbor;
• Many in Pakistan wonder about the impact on the war being fought in Afghanistan — and whether the fighting will continue to spill over its borders;
• For ordinary Iranians, the question will be how the next president will affect the sometimes strained relations between Washington and Tehran;
• Cubans are watching closely the election of their northern neighbor, which strictly enforces an economic embargo;
• In Britain, America's close military ally and cultural cousin, the new foreign and defense policies will be especially scrutinized;
• And in Poland, locals wonder what the leadership change means for the planned U.S. missile defense system based on their soil.

Do Americans care?
But as important as those issues are to locals, the make-or-break issues facing American voters tend to be domestic, not international.

“ I don’t think [foreign opinion] is going to make an impact on this election and I can’t remember an instance in which it made any difference with the American public and voting,” said Karlyn Bowman, a U.S. public opinion analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.

Wariness about foreign influence dates to the Founding Fathers: that is why the Constitution stipulates that, among other qualifications, a president must be American-born.

Gallup recently found that nearly one-third of the world’s population feels the result of the American election will make a difference in their countries.

INTERACTIVE Why We Vote 24 Americans tell how they make their ballot decisions.

Europeans, in particular, perceive a stake in Tuesday’s outcome: roughly two-thirds said it will have an impact for them at home.

“While European preference will not likely affect U.S. voters grappling with domestic issues and concerns, their support for a new administration could go a long way toward restoring the approval of U.S. leadership globally,” Gallup concluded.

But in the rising powers of Asia, the picture is different. Just 16 percent of Chinese and 6 percent of Indians see the election making an impact in their countries — figures Gallup partially attributed to the extreme poverty that persists in rural areas of those countries.

In Latin America, which has received scant attention during the campaign, only about one-third of respondents foresaw a direct impact from the election.

Both candidates have demonstrated sensitivity to foreign public opinion.

Mauricio Duenas / AFP - Getty Images file Sen. John McCain listens to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe during a joint press conference in Cartagena on July 1.

McCain has indicated one reason he opposes what he would consider a premature U.S. pullout from Iraq is the damage it would do to American prestige. As the campaign was ramping up this summer, he promoted free trade during visits with his advisers to Colombia and Mexico in an attempt to score points against Obama.

Soon after, Obama took a high-profile five-country trip which saw him at one point speaking to tens of thousands of Berliners waving American flags.

Of his foreign trip, Obama told The Washington Post that his warm reception overseas may not translate to a direct advantage with American voters but it was “knowledge they can store in the back of their minds for when they go into the polling place later.”

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