T

he US election is as festive as the Olympics and brought people from all over the world together. Citizens of countries across the globe are hopeful that US foreign policy will be beneficial under whoever wins the election.

The nations of Southeast Asia had implicated that it would be more preferable if President Barack Obama was reelected.

An article shared by CSIS Southeast Asia’s Facebook page stated 10 crystal clear reasons why Southeast Asia nations would be happy if Obama wins. The ASEAN country members think that they want Obama to return as president so that he can play an active part in the upcoming East Asian Summit (EAS) in Phnom Penh.

It also mentioned that if elected, Mitt Romney would find it difficult to travel to Southeast Asia due to administrative responsibilities. While, if Obama was reelected, he might visit other capitals of Southeast Asian countries such as Bangkok or Myanmar.

Since Obama has knowledge of ASEAN the US foreign policy is likely to favor ASEAN countries. Plus, having the same commander of the White House will further strengthen the relationship that developed in the past four years.

In China, a country often brought up — or at least mentioned — as one of the issues during the election debates, the opinion is split and not so easy to define.

An editorial in the populist state-run Global Times said that China becoming a political card in the US election is an old story. It commented on how both candidates, during this race, have played the topic more heavily.

Middle East countries take their own stance on this presidential election.

According to the Guardian, polls have shown American-Israeli voters, who preferred to cast their ballots in favor of Obama, are now in favor of ousting Obama and installing Romney in the White House. This was even supported by Benyamin Netanyahu’s speech during the UN General Assembly Meeting last month in New York. Regardless, the state of Palestine does not pin much hope on this election.

The US election is comparable to the royal wedding as well as the Olympics. People pay attention because they have their own opinions regarding who should be the next “champion” or what “couple” they endorse. In this competition, Obama and Romney are playing the only two superpower nations that the citizens of the world can cheer, clap and give their support to.

The world could already see that so far the winner of the “festival” is, Obama with 290 electoral votes. Congratulations again, Mr. President!

Rut Nastiti
Iowa