The World This Week: Foreign policy in next week's election
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher.
By Mike Froman
Conventional wisdom holds that American elections rarely hinge on foreign policy. Neither Donald Trump nor Kamala Harris has made the issue a centerpiece of the campaign, and indeed, a recent Pew Research Center poll found that 81 percent of registered voters considered the economy by far their top concern.
But foreign policy isn’t absent from voters’ minds either, with 62 percent of respondents calling it “very important” to their vote. Two top-of-mind issues that are typically coded as domestic—the economy and immigration—are in fact deeply linked to developments around the rest of the world. And while there are some similarities between the two candidates’ foreign policies, there are important differences, including the extent to which the U.S. might exercise international leadership and the way it might engage with the rest of the world.
The salience of foreign policy was driven home for me during the series of in-depth, nonpartisan conversations that the Council on Foreign Relations hosted in four pivotal states over the course of October. In Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, it was clear just how connected these states were to the rest of the world. And even though the audiences self-selected for interest in foreign policy, I came away struck by how the issue seemed anything but remote.
Consider Arizona, where I joined our panel discussion at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, in Phoenix. Arizona is a major trading state, exporting nearly $30 billion in goods annually, and ranks first in the country as a destination for foreign investment. It’s also one of the biggest beneficiaries of the recent shift toward onshoring the production of strategically important goods—namely, semiconductor chips. On the outskirts of Phoenix, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, helped by a grant from the CHIPS and Science Act, is adding two more factories to its existing facility, which is already producing cutting-edge processors for iPhones.
The Arizonans I met were also very much aware of the importance of immigration and agricultural exports to their state’s economy. They had a keen sense of how the U.S.-Mexican and the U.S.-Chinese relationships affected them.
In the other states—Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—the picture was decidedly more mixed. Each has endured the effects of deindustrialization, and all are experiencing pockets of economic revitalization. To state the obvious, there is significant variability across the U.S. economy, which results in similarly divergent attitudes about the United States’ role in the global economy.
Other global issues clearly matter to voters as well. At Grand Valley State University, in Allendale, Michigan—the state with the highest percentage of Arab Americans—many in the audience wanted to hear about the Israel-Hamas war. At Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania—the No. 2 natural-gas-producing state in the country—energy was high on the list.
These conversations only reaffirmed my belief that what happens in the rest of the world bears directly on Americans’ lives, and that those who live in the “Acela corridor” can benefit greatly from hearing the perspectives of those who don’t.
Too little has been done over decades to make an effective case for U.S. leadership, but it is not just a problem of communication. Washington also needs to do more to ensure that the benefits of the global economy are broadly shared. Whatever foreign policies it pursues must be accompanied by domestic policies that equip Americans with the skills they need to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing world, whether the change comes from technology, immigration, or trade.
This effort should rank high on the next president’s agenda—no matter who wins next week’s election.
OTHER ANALYSIS FROM THIS WEEK
Understanding the Threats to U.S. Election Security
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CFR on Campuses in Four Pivotal States
CFR visited colleges and universities in four battleground states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—to hold public forums with top experts on international issues and how they influence the lives of Americans. Watch the reel
What’s at Stake for Foreign Policy in the Elections
Diana Roy
On November 5, U.S. voters will choose new leadership, with ramifications for China, immigration, the Middle East, and many other national security issues. Read the opinions of CFR experts
A Woman in the White House
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Confronting the Axis of Autocracies
Increased cooperation among China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia will present the next U.S. president with tough choices. How should the United States respond? Read more on The Water’s Edge
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Podcast: A World Under the Influence
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Twenty-Ninth Term Member Conference
Keynote speaker U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Digital and Cyberspace Policy Nathaniel C. Fick spoke with CFR President Michael Froman conversed with U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Nathaniel C. Fick. Additional sessions included discussions on the latest updates regarding the conflict in the Middle East, the risks of wider escalation, and the role of the United States, and the 2024 U.S. election. Watch the discussions
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1 小时前?? 22 U.S. CODE § 2382 - COORDINATION WITH FOREIGN POLICY > COORDINATION AMONG REPRESENTATIVES OF UNITED STATES : The President shall prescribe appropriate procedures to assure coordination among representatives of the United States Government in each country, under the leadership of the CHIEF OF THE UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC MISSION. (Keywords: under the leadership of the CHIEF OF THE UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC MISSION)
Moore Enterprises, Inc.
2 天前“Reclaiming Faith: How America’s Return to Judaic-Christian Values Can Undermine Russia’s ‘Holy War’ Narrative” The cultural shift in the U.S. under leaders like Donald Trump, emphasizing a return to Judaic-Christian values, can serve as a counterargument to the Russian Orthodox Church’s narrative that the U.S.-led West is “Satanic.”, and the US is the Anti-Christ.. Publicizing these policies and cultural movements undermines the Russian narrative that the West is morally corrupt and devoid of spiritual foundations. This approach could involve public diplomacy efforts, such as interviews with U.S. religious leaders or media campaigns showcasing shared moral values between the U.S. and Russian people. Highlighting the West’s alignment with Christian values can empower dissenting voices within Russia who already question the moral legitimacy of the war. Russian citizens who see commonality between Western and Orthodox values may be more inclined to resist the war or call for peaceful resolutions. https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/edward-moore-915658b3_reclaiming-faith-how-americas-return-to-activity-7265356796544827392-z3G6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios