From Ford Model T cars that rolled off the assembly line in just 90 minutes to 60-second service for hamburgers, America has played a big part in making the world a hectic and impatient place, prepared and hungry for instant gratification.
So waking up to the news on Wednesday that the winner of the American election might not be known for hours, days or weeks (experts filled the world’s radio waves with their best guesses) came as a shock to a weaned planet of the greatest part of US exports: speed. .
“We have to have a little patience, almost certainly a lot of patience,” said European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, as the White House nail-biting contest increasingly focused on three states: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. – That could prove crucial in determining whether President Donald Trump or challenger Joe Biden wins.
“In the US system, the last vote counts, and maybe the last vote will change the result,” Borrell told Spanish National Television.
But as world leaders generally refrained from commenting on the outcome until it was clear, the particularly contentious and controversial nature of the vote was already sparking concerns abroad that the sharp divisions and internal conflicts of the superpower exposed by the elections they could last long after the winner is declared. .
“The battle for the legitimacy of the result, be that as it may, has begun,” said German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
“This is a very explosive situation. It is a situation that experts rightly say could lead to a constitutional crisis in the United States,” he said on ZDF television. “That is certainly something that should be of great concern to us.”
In financial markets, investors struggled to make sense of it all, causing some indices to go up and others down.
In general, uncertainty prevailed. In the vacuum of no immediate winner, there was some gloating from Russia, Africa and other parts of the world that have repeatedly been on the receiving end of criticism from the United States, with claims that the elections and the vote count were exposing the imperfections of American democracy. .
“Africa used to learn American democracy, America is now learning African democracy,” Nigerian Senator Shehu Sani tweeted, reflecting a common view of some on a continent long accustomed to conflicting elections and US criticism of them.
Traditional US allies clung to the belief that regardless of whether Trump or Biden emerged as the winner, the fundamentals that have long underpinned some of key US relationships.
“Whatever the outcome of the elections, they will remain our allies for many years and decades, that’s for sure,” said Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market.
That idea was shared by the Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, who told a parliamentary session that “the Japan-United States alliance is the foundation of Japanese diplomacy, and under that premise I will develop a solid relationship with a new president.”
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