Why are American elections so important… elsewhere like in a country in the end of the world like Chile?
Return to the past and ask a member of a province of the roman empire if resolutions taken in Rome are important, or if they affect the way he is going to live… the probable answer will be yes, it is important. Of course the EE.UU. are not a formal empire, but has the strength to influence imporant events in the world, and foremost they have the ability to change unilaterally any given condicion or treaty, the sole example of the invasion in Irak is dramatic. Since the invasion petroleum has increased its price very rapidly, affecting all economies of the world who depend in petroleum to carry on productive activities. The US backed the Washington Concensus, bringing a wave of liberalizing tendencies in economics around the globe, not just in Latinamerica… the result is that crises have had a component of the policies of the Washington Concensus like liberalizing markets which has increased further on the risk of crises…as the 1990s clearly show, reaching the edge in the East Asian crisis. Even the IMF the key lender and economic authority in any event of economic clash ( or crisis), has a strong influence from the US, as we can corroborate the fact that the IMF was ideologically driven by Washington Concensus, this is rather obvious though.
The 2008 presidential election in the US is therefore not just important to americans, but it is of crucial importance to any citizen of the world. The world may have had a different look nowadays if George Bush had not won the past election. It is for this reason that Democrat or Republican, matters for the whole world. Nobody cares who is the Secretary General of the UN, no other election is of more important than that of US President. There can be conservative policies which tend to be more nationalistic… less globalizing in terms of sharing the power…. or there can be more liberal policies in which there is more debate at a global level of world policies. It is important.
Too bad just americans vote, while all the world may suffer or benefit from the wisdom of the next president. Let us hope that the next president will be wiser and less impulsive.
