If you want to see what an elephant looks like, the worst place to sit is on the elephant.
That’s why articles from the foreign press about the American election campaign are worth reading. The inability of their writers to influence the outcome, and the fact that foreign newspapers are much less likely to see problems with their readerships and advertisers when commenting on the US campaign than on matters at home gives a certain freedom and detachment to writers abroad that American pundits may not so easily enjoy.
This piece from Germany’s Die Welt is short and clear, and surveys the foreign policy fundamentals of Clinton, Obama and McCain.
While most foreign editorials that express a preference are going balmy for Obama, he is nevertheless the unknown quantity when it comes to foreign policy.
One gets a hazy picture of Obama’s exact global political ideas and ideals. He is supported by most of the liberal intelligentsia. The Kennedy clan pays homage to Obama as the symbol of a younger generation and Jack Kennedy’s spiritual heir. Still, among those closest to him, one finds radical advocates of a thoroughly altered foreign policy. … Barack Obama wants to deal directly with Hamas and Hezbollah and also negotiate a new relationship with Iran.
Die Welt doesn’t specifically object to this but does contrast it with the likely expert advisors of Clinton (Holbrooke and Biden) and the clarity of McCain’s worldview, especially in the area of foreign policy.
Read the whole piece from Die Welt here in translation on Watching America.com
Robin Koerner is a British-born citizen of the USA, who currently serves as Academic Dean of the John Locke Institute. He holds graduate degrees in both Physics and the Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge (U.K.). He is also the founder of WatchingAmerica.com, an organization of over 100 volunteers that translates and posts in English views about the USA from all over the world.
Robin may be best known for having coined the term “Blue Republican” to refer to liberals and independents who joined the GOP to support Ron Paul’s bid for the presidency in 2012 (and, in so doing, launching the largest coalition that existed for that candidate).
Robin’s current work as a trainer and a consultant, and his book If You Can Keep It , focus on overcoming distrust and bridging ideological division to improve politics and lives. His current project, Humilitarian, promotes humility and civility as a basis for improved political discourse and outcomes.