Wednesday, April 30, 2008

International Community Divided on US Elections

International Community weighs in on US elections

WASHINGTON-The outcome of the U.S. presidential election, no matter who wins, will likely have a positive impact on the international media's perception of the United States, according to two separate polls.

In an informal poll, the majority of the polled participants, all members of the international media, stated that electing a minority would resonate positively throughout the international media spectrum.

The importance of improving the United States’ image abroad has become evident to all three presidential candidates, as a panel discussion held at American University demonstrated. Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy advisor, Lee Feinstein explained the importance of being respected in the international community.

“The way you’re viewed today is important because of the kinds of challenges we’re facing right now. We’re more powerful than all other countries… but we are fighting two ground wars… and a resurgent Al Qaeda… our closes friends in Europe who are increasingly alienated from us.” Feinstein continuted,” It actually really matters that we have a reputation around the world because we cannot address these problems on our own.”


The 2008 US Presidential Elections are being followed closely by the international media. The Financial Times, a British publication, published an op-ed devoted to warning the Britons of the dangers of a McCain Presidency.

The BBC devoted an entire webpage to the US elections, complete with blogs and columnists along with articles that cover every minute aspect of the US Presidential Elections.

Why? The world has an invested interest in the leader of the United States since it holds the position of being the sole superpower, and thus its policies reverberate internationally, according to Nina Gomez, a Mexican reporter based in Tijuana.

Dozens of foreign-based webpages have emerged, focusing on educating non-Americans about the US Presidential Elections. In an interview with Fariba Amini, an Iranian journalist, Amini explained the significance of the election to the international community.

I think its historical because finally there might be a candidate who sees the world differently- and who isn’t ethnocentric or US-centric- Obama’s message is an honest message, and even if he isn't elected, at least it’s a start,” Amini explained. “It shows that people in the country really want changes, both domestically, economically and internationally.”

Of the three candidates, Obama has garnered, if not the most support worldwide, at least the most ardent. A tiny village town in Japan has had “Obama day,” and The World Wants Obama Coalition has links to 20 other organizations supporting Obama.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article, written by three journalists, stationed in Latin America, Africa and Europe respectively, in which they noted the fervid interest in Obama.

This time around, all three candidates have made restoring America's stature abroad a key part of their foreign-policy platforms, making overseas opinions of the U.S. of greater interest to American voters. And the fact that Sen. Obama -- a man with African and Muslim roots and an Arabic middle name, Hussein -- could become U.S. president has created buzz around the world.” The Wall Street Journal article continued,”In Germany, the title of a recent book, "Obama: the Black Kennedy," echoes frequent newspaper headlines comparing Sen. Obama with Germany's favorite former U.S. president. In Kenya, the homeland of Sen. Obama's father, people order the local beer, Senator, by asking for an ‘Obama’."


The WorldWantsObama.Org states in its manifesto that its purpose is to “build a global movement to show American that there are millions of people around the globe that back Obama, and encourage America to engage with international opinion.”

Obama has come to represent the “American Dream” and everything that the international community likes about the United States, according to Dominique Moisi, a French writer.

“Barack Obama campaigning under the banner of “hope,” is the ideal choice to restore, as if by magic, America’s soft power. After all, he himself incarnates the American dream.” Moisi concluded that, “The best America for Europe and the world is a confident America, one that sheds its culture of fear and rediscovers the roots of its culture of hope. This is Obama’s America.”

Moisi is far from the only one to hold that opinion. The participants polled also tended to skew towards supporting Barack Obama, with 68.8% stating that they believe Barack Obama would be the best leader for the United States. Not a single participant thought that McCain would be the best president.

However, in the informal poll, Asia and the Pacific only consisted of small part of the respondents, and Latin America only consisted of fifth. McCain is favored by much of Asia, specifically India and China, for his economic trade views. Roger Cohen of the International Herald Tribune discussed Asia’s view in a recent article.

On specifics, the big Asian powers have also felt more comfortable with Republican policy.” Cohen went on to explain that, “In India, the general feeling is that the Republicans are more free-trade oriented, less likely to pile on single-issue objections over outsourcing or child labor, and more ready to take a bold pro-Indian strategic approach.”


Hillary Clinton is popular in Latin America because of Bill Clinton’s administration policies towards Latin America, according to Cohen.

A poll conducted by The Financial Times questioned residents of Germany, France, Great Britain, United States and Spain indicates that outside of the international media sector, European residents tend to lean towards Hillary Clinton. In any case, it revealed that Europe is much more open to an idea of a female president than the United States.

Residents of European countries believed that electing a woman would be very positive for the United States. The United States was the sole exception, with a quarter of respondents stating that they think that a woman being elected would have a negative impact.

The end results of the poll concluded that residents of Great Britain and the United States view a black president more positively, whereas, Germany, Italy, France and Spain are more positive about having a female president.

Much of the Middle East supports Obama over Clinton. Amini said that, despite Iran’s restrictive treatment towards women, the people of Iran’s preference of Obama and McCain over Clinton is not gender based.

“I think that they would be upset not because she was a woman but because she is opportunistic- one day she was for the way, the other [day] she wasn’t- one day she was for talking to Iran, next day she wasn't. She supported the war in Iraq, now she doesn't. Nothing to do about being a women, but because they see her stances being influenced by the very important Israeli lobbyist in the U.S.,”
Amini said.

Amini continued to negate the role of gender in Iranian opinion. “
They are used to powerful women in the US. They see Condi (Condoleezza Rice)- they are disgusted- because of her governmental stance – not because she is black or a woman. Obama has been conciliatory- that’s why they prefer him, he wants to break the ice.”


Even if McCain is elected, the international community will still grant him the benefit of the doubt, despite his party’s unpopularity internationally. Mark Dillon, a writer for the Public Diplomacy website, expanded on why McCain would still have the support of the international community at the outset of his term.

Dillon explained that since McCain has a history of bipartisanism and has distanced himself from the Bush administration’s position on climate change, the international community sees him differently than other republicans.

“Most anti-Americanism is focused on the person of George W. Bush,” Dillon said. “Any new U.S. President who promises a new spirit of cooperation with the world will be listened to.”

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Poor Hillary Clinton: Americans don't like women.



Apparently 25% of Americans polled thought that electing a woman would have a negative impact on the United States. Unbelievable!

According to this survey, Americans lean towards being misogynists. The French, German, Italians and Spaniards leans towards being racist. Only Great Britain comes out decently.

Excellent.

Now I don't really like Hillary Clinton, but lately I've started to feel that there was something off about her media coverage. When people are yelling at her to clean their house, that is disturbing. More disturbing? That the media doesn't really cover it- or covers it humorously.

Also, back in March, when she and Obama were practically tied in the Democratic primaries, people were calling for her to step down for the good of the party. Really? Why weren't they calling for Obama to step down? For that matter, why didn't they ask John Edwards to step down in the months before he finally did?

Why do commentators spend time analyzing her clothes and hair? Blame her for not leaving her husband? Or make snide remarks about her "playing tough?"

One can't help but feel that there is an undercurrent of misogyny playing in this election- less detectable, but more pervasive than racism.

Attack Hilary Clinton for her policy positions, her claims of experience, the fact that she has already managed to insult a world leader by stating publically that "he has no soul"- thus invalidating her diplomatic prowess claims, and the fact that she wants to take money from companies instead of using the tax money to fix problems.

Attack her for all these things- but don't attack her for her husband's poor life choices, for the fact that she sometimes makes incomprehensible clothing choices- after all, she is old- for the fact that she is a woman and admits that publically.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Survey of International Journalists

At the begiining of this project, I found that it was very hard to do any research on this subject. there are many reasons for this, but the main point was that there was only qualitative research done, up to this point, there was no quanitative research. I decided to do original research to obtain quantitative data to substantiate my project.

this survey consisted of 10 questions. It was taken by 20 international journalists. Since there are only 20 international journalists, the results are far from conclusive, but it can be used as an indicator of opinion trend.

20% of the respondents were from the Middle East and North Africa
6.7% were from Sub-Sahara Africa
13.3% were from Eastern Europe and Central Eurasia
6.7% were from Asia and the Pacific
33.3% were from Western Europe
As the results show, the greater percentage of respondents were from Western Europe. The respondents answers were similar to what I predicted they would be.

Not one of the respondents thought that McCain would be best leader for the US. Approx 2/3 thought that Obama would be the best, the other third thought that Hillary Clinton would be. Two-thirds thought that Obama would win the general election.

75% believed that electing a minority would positively change perceptions of the US throughout the world. 50% said that race would be considered more significant to the international media. 50% thought that Obama and Clinton have been covered differently due to their gender/race by the international media. Only 18.8% believed that they had not been covered differently because of their race and gender.

Here is the complete list of survey questions

Barack Obama is in Indiana



Barack Obama is loved by small town residents in Japan, not so much in Indiana.

Friday, April 25, 2008

British Columnist equates damage of US primary election with WWI

This article by Matt Frei actually makes valid points about the British perspective of the US primary between Hillary Clinton, even though it has many cute britishisms- such as sinisterly ability of Clinton in "breaking eggs to make omelettes" and "potted plants" and the Duracell(not Energizer) Bunny." My favorite part was the part the seeming non sequitur of WWI- until it became clear that Frei equated the emotional collateral damage of the democratic primaries with World War I- a war so devestating and divisive that it caused Germany 20 years of poverty, was a main component in starting WWII and brought the rise of fascism to Italy and Germany and threw all of Eastern europe into a turmoil they still haven't emerged from.

This is not what dreams are made of but is a recipe for resentment.
World War I ended one day after four years of brutal trench warfare caked in mud.
The Germans were stunned to hear that they had lost.
The humiliation of the Versailles Treaty added insult to injury.
The rest is history.
An unconvincing victory for either Clinton or Obama courtesy of some begrudging super-delegates could fatally damage the Democratic Party in November.


To read the rest of the drama queen's article, see below.

This is the article.

What does Iran think of the US Elections?

Today I interview Fariba Amini, a regular contributer to The Iranian and Payvand, Iranian news publications. She is also a human rights activist and the publisher of Letters from Ahmad Abad, Prime Minister Mossadegh’s letters to his lawyer, Nosratollah Amini

MG: Do you think Iranians were happy that Barack Obama said he would talk to the Islamic Government of Iran? Do you think they are excited at the prospect of renegotiations?

FA:I think so,although a lot of Iranians like Bush, they liked the policy of putting pressure on the gov’t. A lot of Iranians think that the US shouldn’t talk to Iran.

MG: How closely are Iranians watching the US election?

FA: Iranians follow the news all the time. The younger generation is not for for McCain, But there is a large segment [of the Iranian population] that believes that the republican government can bring [social and economic] change [for Iran] by putting pressure on the Islamic republic.

MG: What is the perception of HIllary Clinton in Iran, considering the Islamic Government's restrictive treatment of women? How would they respond to Hillary Clinton being President?

FA: I think that they would be upset not because she was a woman but because she is opportunistic- one day she was for the way, the other she wasn’t- one day she was for talking to Iran, next day she wasn't. She supported the war in Iraq, now she doesn't. Nothing to do about being a women, but because they see her stances being influenced by the very important Israeli lobbyist in the US.

MG: Is has nothing to do with her gender? How does gender and race factor into this election for Iranians?

FA: They are used to powerful women in the US. They see Condi (Condolezza Rice)- they are disgusted- because of her governmental stance – not because she is black or a woman. Obama has been coniliatroy- that’s why they prefer him, he wants to break the ice

In Iran race and gender doesn’t factor as much- though there is more sympathy towards Obama because he is black

MG: How do you think Iranians view our election race? Do the Iranians see this election as historical?

FA: It's a waste of so much money- much or Europe or middle east thinks too- its an enormous waste of time and money – I think its historical because finally there might be a candidate who sees the world differently- and who isn’t ethnocentric or US-centric- Obama’s message is an honest message, and even if he isn't elected, at least it’s a start- its shows that people in the country really want changes, both domestically, economically and internationally.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Liveblogging Dan the British Man's Misery

Dan McCarey is a British multimedia producer working at a non-profit organization for journalists. He is a rapid supporter of Obama, so Obama's loss was a brutal blow to Dan McCarey. I will be luring McCarey into a conversation about Obama and other extended topics to explore how his perception of the US differs based on the candidates.

It is also important to note that I am from Central Pennsylvania.

hello everyone- so right now I'm liveblogging Dan McCarey's reaction to Obama losing Pennsylvania. This election very well may kill Dan before it's over.

12:50- Why do you think Obama lost Pennslyvania? "I think he lost PA because essentially they are racist people- look at the districts he won and loss. He lost backward districts- I don't mean that in a derogatory way. Larger debate of what is America." People are more comfortable with Hillary. I obviously think they are wrong.

12:54- I think its interesting why Obama doesn't appeal to those people. I don't think they desperately want a woman as President. Why did they vote for her!

12:56: Fariba interuppts: when I was a little girl... Dan: how could they think that Hillary relates to them- she isn't going to help them out in any way!

Dan: how can you respect race if you don't live in a diverse place? A lot of this comes down to economics in the end- they (Pennslyvanians) look for someone to blame.

Obama personifies change- this is my opinion- a vote for Clinton is backward. By backward, I mean in the the way that America is moving- McCain has no understanding of these issues.

12:58- Natasha: you're going to give in Dan a heart attack!
12:59 Dan "its NOT about Hillary- the most positive points of Amercia is what Obama personifies- McCain personifies everything bad about US policy- with a few exceptions-
He should have never fought in the war- the idea of Vietnam and the war was just wrong in the first place.

1:03- Cold War was a terrible policy on both sides- what was that about- fear and secrecy- I don't think that America needs a big army- why do they have it?

1:05-A horrible xenophoibic congressman! (McCain)

1:09- why do we have this idea that a country has a right to choose who can visit their country?!?!

This conversation continued for another 20 minutes on illegal immigration and the right to travel, but it wasn't really relevant. I'll have pictures of Dan's woe up in a few hours.