The next president of the U.S. will need to work to improve the country's reputation abroad and to solve serious domestic problems that also affect the global community, Michael Brown, a former member of the British Parliament, said during an AU British Society event Tuesday afternoon.
"America does not always understand how its supposedly 'good-hearted' actions are being viewed through the lens of the European community," he said. "Europe is looking forward to the change that a new administration would bring, to having the slate wiped clean."
Brown, a Conservative Party member who served in Parliament from 1979 to 1997, said the British people have been eagerly following the presidential election this year and that they overwhelmingly support President-elect Barack Obama.
A recent poll conducted by an independent British newspaper found that 67 percent of the 1 million Britons polled would have voted for Obama if they could have voted in the presidential elections, Brown said.
Though Brown spoke before election results had declared Obama the winner, he was confident that Obama could win and that as president, Obama would take a more cautious approach to foreign policy than President Bush has during his administration.
Obama understands that the U.S. cannot try to solve every foreign crisis, according to Brown.
He also talked about Republican candidate John McCain and the impression he has left on Britons. Throughout the election, the British have formed opinions of McCain and Sarah Palin similar to that of the American public, said Brown. He said he felt this was largely due to the fact that Britons got their news solely from major U.S. news sources.
Brown said he personally felt McCain was too similar to Bush and not charismatic enough to win the election.
Steve Smallpage, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, said he was impressed by the convergence of the British media and the American media, especially during the election.
"What most impressed me was how the British media is so heavily influenced by the American media," he said. "I never realized how British newspapers and American newspapers can basically be reporting the same story."
Brown warned that Americans must be careful not to pin too many hopes and expectations on Obama. While Brown said Obama will bring about many new changes, promises that would be hard to keep under normal circumstances will be even harder to keep up under the current economic situation.
"Hope can quickly turn into discontent," he said. "Whoever becomes your president ... whatever possibilities they may want to offer, those things come at a price. This is especially important to keep in mind during a recession."
Brown also provided insight into the world's continually changing view of the United States, said Oliver Flynn, a sophomore in SPA.
"It was interesting to hear more about British perspectives on America and how seriously our words and actions are taken overseas," he said.
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