What the U.S. Election Meltdown Looks Like to Other Countries

The world anxiously awaits the start of a new U.S. presidential term. Although America does not enjoy the level of supremacy as it did until a few years ago, it is still very clearly the dominating center of strategic, economic, and technological power and commands considerable influence in the majority of the countries of the world. The policies that it pursues and the strategic direction that it takes especially in respect to the regional countries have a strong bearing on others. And the countries mentioned below are no stranger to this experience.

Israel

Donald Trump will be remembered by most Israelis as a friendly and supportive president, who moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and paved the way for Israel to sign normalization accords with several Arab countries. But even among Israelis who were saddened by his loss, there isn’t a great sense of fear with regard to the incoming Joe Biden administration.

Iran

Because of the crippling sanctions that have devastated the Iranian economy, U.S. foreign policy has an enormous impact on the lives of Iranians; more than it has on Americans themselves.

United Kingdom

Joe Biden, a transparently decent man, is promising a reset. If he can quickly take the United States back into the Paris Climate Change Accord, reaffirm U.S. commitment to NATO, and rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, he will both revive multilateralism and provide some reassurance to European public opinion.

China

What will it mean for the U.S.-China relationship? While many in China are still baffled by how Trump became president, he has his share of supporters in China, who root for him for a wide range of reasons. Including some nationalists who believe he would accelerate the decay of American democracy. Many in China believe a Joe Biden presidency won’t be able to restore the relationship between the two world’s biggest economies. Believing that the United States will continue to take measures to support China’s rise, they are ready for a rocky, if not rockier, U.S.-China relationship in the four years ahead.