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EU-Europe: hope for Biden
Top European leaders, led by Germany’s Angela Merkel, will likely sigh in relief if there is a change of power in the White House after the elections. Trump’s many clashes with his allies in Europe, his threats to leave NATO, and his negative view of the European Union have pushed the transatlantic relationship to its coldest in all postwar times.
Even among ordinary Europeans, Donald Trump is unpopular. A poll of 11,000 voters in Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and Spain shows that a clear majority in all countries would have voted for Joe Biden in presidential elections.
Bad mood between President Trump and Chancellor Merkel at the G7 summit in Canada in 2018.
Photo: BROCHURE / Reuters
In Germany, up to 66 percent say they support Biden.
The poll shows that President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement is particularly unpopular with Europeans.
A survey by the think tank “European Council on International Relations” shows that the Trump administration has also given Europeans a more negative view of the United States in general. “Handling the covid-19 pandemic has contributed greatly to this. A close and long-standing ally has ended up in chaos,” the survey states.
China’s focus continues
The focus on China has dominated much of US foreign policy, including in the election campaign.
The Chinese government claims that the United States is obsessed with crushing China’s progress to save its own dominant position in the world. They also claim that Americans blame the Chinese for everything that goes wrong.
“We are not interested in the US presidential elections and we hope they can stop making China a problem in the elections,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.
However, China’s leadership is likely to follow the election with a hawkish eye.
If Joe Biden becomes the next president of the United States, he may be more focused on human rights. But no matter which candidate wins, the critical focus on China will continue.
Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping shake hands before the G20 summit in Osaka in June last year.
Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP
President Donald Trump has rebuked China in many areas. However, it is perceived in various ways as positive for China. Many call him 川 建国 (chuan jianguo), “Trump who builds the country.”
He received this nickname because he takes the United States out of international agreements and thus allows the Chinese president to shine in various settings.
Criticism that the Communist Party did not react quickly enough to the coronavirus has also faded. Because while the chaos of the virus is ravaging the United States, the situation has long been under control in China. Strengthen Chinese support for their own regime.
At the same time, many countries in Southeast Asia worry that the US president must keep China in check. They fear that the Chinese regime will increasingly dominate the continent.
Russia – prefers Trump
Russia’s state media has closely covered the US election campaign. The outcome of the presidential elections is considered important both for the people and for the leadership. The media make it quite clear that the Russian side would prefer Donald Trump to have a new term.
It is noted that Trump has often spoken positively about Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has little desire for a change of power in the White House.
Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev / AP
At the same time, there are quite negative traits in the coverage of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. For quite some time, special attention has been paid to the fact that his son Hunter works for a Ukrainian gas company for several years. Additionally, the case of a PC with compromising images of Hunter being found has received extensive coverage in the Russian media.
President Putin says he will respect whatever decision the American people make in the elections. From the Russian side, there is still a perception that a new Democratic Party administration will be a tougher opponent for Russia’s leaders than the Trump administration.
Middle East: Opinions strongly divided
For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump has been a gift package.
With the United States behind him, Netanyahu has been able to build thousands of new houses in settlements on occupied lands, in violation of international law. That Trump moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was a great victory for Netanyahu.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had the full support of Donald Trump for his policies.
Photo: PISCINA / AFP
Trump’s grand Middle East peace plan was created without the Palestinians feeling heard or seen. It’s hard to say if this will change if Joe Biden becomes president. The Palestinians are weakened, in large part due to their divided leadership.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is one of the leaders that President Trump likes.
Erdogan hopes Trump will continue. But Turkey is a divided country. Secularists who do not support Erdogan prefer to see Joe Biden win. They want me to pressure Turkey to respect human rights and demand that journalists and opposition politicians imprisoned without law and justice be released.
Few countries perceive the consequences of US policy better than Iran.
Da trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal In 2018, Iran was sent into economic darkness. Most Iranians hope that Trump’s time will soon end and that Joe Biden will resume America’s role in the 2015 Iran deal.
Latin America – little noticed
Donald Trump has not made a single bilateral visit to Latin America in the nearly four years he has been president. His only trip to the region was to the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires in November 2018.
He speaks of very limited interest in this region, even though “Latino” voters are the largest minority group in the United States in this presidential election.
Trump’s policy in Latin America has been marked by immigration through Mexico and the construction of the much-discussed wall. Another important issue is the fight against the so-called “troika of tyranny”, the leftist regimes in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
The controversial wall between the United States and Mexico has become a symbol of President Trump’s Latin American policy.
Photo: CARLOS BARRIA / Reuters
Donald Trump has strong support for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has publicly stated that he hopes Trump will be re-elected. But the close relationship between the two has provided little concrete benefits for Brazil.
Joe Biden visited Latin America sixteen times during his eight years as Obama’s vice president. It is said that he is genuinely concerned about the region and that he, to a greater extent than Trump, will focus on dialogue and providing financial assistance that can prevent people from fleeing to the United States.
Africa: the stakes are high
Like Latin America, the issue of Africa has been almost totally absent in the electoral campaign, nor has it been mentioned in the debates between the two presidential candidates. This is a great paradox, as the United States has a decisive influence on some of the most important issues on the African continent.
One of them is the water of the Nile, which is applied life or death for several African countries. Ethiopia has built the largest dam in Africa on the so-called Blue Nile and is in bitter conflict with Egypt, which needs water from the Nile for drinking water, agriculture and industry. The United States has stopped its extensive development aid to Ethiopia to pressure the country into negotiations.
The Trump administration scored a major diplomatic victory when Sudan recognized Israel last month. The Sudanese authorities also agreed to transfer just over NOK 3 billion to victims of terrorism in the United States. The country was thus removed from the US list of countries that support terrorism.
