Thursday, October 25, 2012

What Does the World Think about the US Election?

We've been talking a lot about what is important to Americans in the US Presidential election but how do people outside of the US feel about it?  Although you can't vote if you are not a US citizen, the election does impact other countries.

In this video produced by Christiane Amanpour, she asks reporters how people in different countries feel about the 2 candidates.  She also says that in an opinion  poll done by the BBC,  in their survey, President Obama is the top choice for all the countries except for one.  One of the reasons quoted is that they know him and like his friendly attitude towards other countries.




According to the video, Here's what matters to the world:
England - The economic crisis is the most important issue.
China - The US presence in Asia and Romney's opinion about China's currency.
Mexico - How will the US handle the drug war, immigration and diplomacy in the region.
Japan - Regional security in Asia is important to Japan.  They like President Obama's interest in the area but know very little about Governor Romney.
Russia - Relations have been good with President Obama but may change drastically if Mitt Romney is elected.
South Korea - Regional security along their border with North Korea is the biggest concern.
Israel - The peace process in the region matters the most.  Israel feels Romney understands with their needs, however Palestinians side with President Obama.
Kenya - Most Kenyans don't feel the election will impact them much but the area will be hard to ignore in the future because of economic growth and the threat of terrorism from the region.

What do you think?  Do you think the US President has an impact on your country?  Do you think the relationship between your country and the US will change after the election?  If you could vote, who would you vote for and why?  

No comments:

Post a Comment