A panel of international experts who spoke at the event "America's Presidential Election: The View from Abroad," all concluded that while the majority of the world supports Sen. John Kerry for president, that support is very "complex and nuanced."
Marvin Kalb, a host for America Abroad Media Radio, and WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi led the discussion, which was broadcast Wednesday on WAMU 88.5 FM and took place two weeks ago in Kay Spiritual Life Center. Professor Akbar Ahmed, Nikolay Petrov from The Carnegie Moscow Center, Adrian Wooldridge from The Economist and Paulo Satero of O Estado de Sao Paulo also participated, analyzing the opinions of people abroad on this year's presidential race. WAMU, America Abroad and The Economist sponsored the debate.
The Muslim World
The Muslim world generally dislikes Bush, while governments are more inclined to support him, Ahmed said. The growing violence in the Middle East overshadowed Bush's explicit support for a Palestinian state, he said. "Terrorists are pleased with violence in Muslim world," Ahmed said.
However, he praised Bush for breaking the decades-old policy of supporting authoritarian regimes and replacing it with a policy of democracy promotion.
"Democracy must come to the Muslim world," Ahmed said.
Ahmed said that the United States should be more candid about its objectives. To the Muslim world, the problem with Iraq is that even within the United States there is still debate about the reason for war, Ahmed said. In order to promote democracy, America must promote the truth after losing much of its credibility, he said.
He also noted that India, which has a large Muslim minority, is an example of a democracy where public opinion is equally divided between both Kerry and Bush. According to Ahmed, Indians hold Kerry in high regard because of the support from the Indian community in America, but they also approve of Bush's support of free trade, which provides jobs to Indians.
Ahmed compared India to its neighbor Pakistan, where polls indicate 43 percent support of Osama bin Laden.
"Osama bin Laden is their vision of leadership in Muslim world," Ahmed said, who also believed that the Muslim world should be able to point to democratic leaders and call them heroes instead.
However, Ahmed noted that Pakistanis are not entirely disillusioned with Bush. Many concede that the cooling down of the India-Pakistan conflict is due to U.S. leadership.
Ahmed prescribed two things for the American-Muslim relationship: more education about Islam in the U.S. and more American dialogue with the Muslim world.
He also said that by treating the American Muslim community with respect, the American Muslim community would act as diplomats to Muslims abroad.
Europe
The British population is generally interested in the American elections, Wooldridge said. British citizens are fascinated with the American democratic process and enthralled by political discussion, he said.
Wooldridge noted that although Bush is not popular in Britain, a President Kerry would not enjoy broad British support. "There will a honeymoon with Kerry, but as soon as Kerry says, 'How about some troops for Iraq?' the honeymoon would sour very, very quickly," Wooldridge said.
As for anti-Americanism in the rest of Europe, Wooldridge explained that since the end of the Cold War, traditional allies were less unified by the Soviet threat and began to diverge on key issues. He claimed that during President Bill Clinton's term, this was largely subdued, but when Bush came to office, the divergence was more pronounced as differences became sharper on issues such as the Kyoto Treaty and capital punishment.
"What happened with George W. Bush was in preparation for a long time and it is beginning to widen," said Wooldridge. "Kerry would provide a temporary betterment but disillusionment will come after."
Russia
On the Russian front, Petrov noted a difference in opinion between the Russian masses and its elites. Petrov said that while the elites viewed Bush as more pragmatic than John Kerry, and thus better for U.S.-Russian relations.
When asked why there is growing anti-Americanism in Russia, Petrov answered that there was a feeling of humiliation since the United States became the sole superpower after the Cold War.
Since the war's end, the Russian government has wanted a more pragmatic relationship with the United States, similar to the Sino-U.S. relationship.
"[The government is] a little more afraid of Democrats coming to power due to idealistic themes," he said.
Petrov indicated that many people say that democracy cannot work with certain cultures, but he believed that notion was untrue. He explained the growing authoritarianism in Russia as being a result of fragile democratic institutions, not an historical Russian aversion to democracy.
"Democracy is being misused in a million different ways." Petrov said.
He also said the process of perfecting democracy gives the U.S. a lot of credibility that it could use to help other countries.
Brazil and South America
South American populations generally view Kerry more positively than the president, Satero said.
"[There is] not much support, but antipathy" about Bush, he added.
Over the last few years, Nnamdi explained, the metaphor for America as the shining city on the hill eroded to a certain extent.
Satero said, in the Brazilian and South American context, that Brazil was concerned largely with the credibility of the United States fighting for values and freedom. When the Patriot Act was passed, it upset Brazilians, he said.
"There are a lot of people in Brazil who want the image of the United States to not be a fearful nation," Satero said.
Satero said that if Kerry was elected, the "my way or the highway" policy would be thrown out, ushering more support for America. For Brazil and South America, however, the public worry about U.S. foreign policy too focused in the Middle East, and that there would be less engagement.
The primary issues of focus for South Americans are the spread of capitalism, agricultural subsidies and free trade, which are things they largely disagree on with Kerry, Satero said.
He said that a Kerry presidency would also bring trepidation because of the senator's espousal of protectionist views. He finished by emphasizing the need for the United States to have friendships with other nations.
The program closed with questions from the audience.
