Seeing the Election From Abroad

There is something about overseas travel during our presidential campaigns that helps put things into perspective, reminds us of the dangers of overemphasizing the day-to-day verbal jousting and towel-snapping, and frames the election in a broader context.

Trips and meetings this year took me to Paris in January; Melbourne, Australia, in August; and Beijing and Shanghai this past week. These travels reminded me of just how much esteem the United States has lost around the world in recent years and yet how deep is the reserve of goodwill that America has built up over the decades. It is because of this reserve that many around the globe maintain hope for the United States.

This combination of historic appreciation, current disappointment, and hope for the future is why the world is watching our presidential election with so much anticipation and interest. Indeed, disinterest is precisely opposite from the feeling that most foreigners display when talking about the choices that America will make beginning on January 3 in Iowa and culminating with our general election on November 4.

It's not hard to find examples of America's lost prestige abroad, quantitative or qualitative. A majority of citizens expressed a favorable attitude toward the United States in just 25 out of 47 countries surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project earlier this year, and 10 of those 25 countries were in Africa. The U.S. managed only a 53 percent favorable rating in Italy, 51 percent in Britain, 39 percent in France, 34 percent in Spain, and 30 percent in Germany. Thank goodness for Israel's 78 percent, Japan's 61 percent, India's 59 percent, South Korea's 58 percent, and Canada's 55 percent. Only on the African continent does the U.S. sport "favorables" -- indeed, "very favorables" -- that are comparable to what was the norm a decade ago in many places around the globe. During a school trip to Europe in 2003 after the start of the Iraq war, teachers cautioned one of my children and his classmates not to wear anything that might indicate they were Americans lest they become the target of anti-war hostility.

But it's wrong to place the blame solely on President Bush and the Iraq war, as tempting as that is to many. Immigrant-bashing is heard nightly on Lou Dobbs's show and throughout our culture, and it's not hard to find plenty of examples of xenophobia in our news. Many political candidates and media figures have found that attacking Islam is a surefire way to gain traction with many voters, viewers, and readers -- even though a few dangerous militants can be found among adherents of almost any religion, as well as among the nonreligious.

U.S. Immigration and Customs officials have realized only recently that visitors view them as being among the rudest and most hostile in the world and have begun to take steps to remedy that. Contrast that with immigration counters at the airport in Beijing where visitors are asked to push buttons to record their level of satisfaction with the official examining their passports.

Meeting some of the brightest and most successful business leaders in China is to find a multitude of men and women educated in the United States and profoundly grateful to former professors, fellow students, and other Americans who mentored and befriended them. These experiences have created a reservoir of goodwill that survives the tussle of international politics. Many of these Chinese are quick to say that their achievements are the result of their American educational and life experiences. Yet they worry that the United States is no longer perceived as welcoming students from around the world. After such meetings, it is not hard to conclude that among the greatest American exports is the appreciation for democracy, even if that translates into forms and methods not always practiced here. American-style capitalism appears to be contagious, too, and certainly in China it is practiced with a zeal that makes Americans' heads swim.

The challenge for the next president, whether a Democrat or a Republican, is to restore the respect and promote the goodwill that the United States has historically enjoyed.