Bush or Kerry, what does it matter anyway?
The world is gripped by the US election but should they be? The US president is referred to as the ‘leader of the free world’ but I’d be surprised if anyone in the ‘free world’ outside of the US really believes that’s the case.
Whoever is elected will hold sway over the foreign policy of America, but is there a clear difference between the broad policies of the candidates?
Iraq is a key area of difference but I believe the damage has already been done. With Kerry as US President can he really claw back the damage of the Bush administration or if Bush were to win can his government make the situation any worse than it is already.
But the key point is that neither candidate is prepared to put the fate of the World in front of that of America. International treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol are not seen as being in the best interest of America and so go unsupported and are stuck in the mire. Nationalism over Internationalism.
No major government of the world has made any significant movement to combat world poverty although there was an agreement made to further the debt relief of third-world nations. The opening up of international trade barriers would be a huge step to combatting third-world poverty but that is unlikely to happen either. Free trade is only for those with the economic clout to enforce it apparently.
The irony is that the long-term gains far outweigh the the short-term losses of such a move and as the prime economic force on the planet the US is the key to such a future.
There is much hatred and resentment for the Western world and America in particular due to the inequities of the status quo of the system of the world. By redressing the balance of world trade through creating a truly fair and free trade system without tariffs and subsidies increased prosperity can be brought to the third-world and with it an erosion of hatred. This is an oversimplification but the essence of the argument is there.
In addition creating a relatively poverty-free world with it creates new markets in which products and services from the West can be sold. This is a long term achievement that is viable if the political will was there.
This is rambling essay that has ended up in a different place than I though it would when I started it. Time to go check the latest exit polls, not that I believe it matters much.
Tags: politics
