-Analysis-
PARIS — It was no surprise: two very different Americas were face-to-face Tuesday night in what may be the only debate before the Nov. 5 presidential election. While former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris were focused most of the night on the main issues of American domestic policies, there was also a stark contrast on foreign policy on display.
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Lots of accusations and approximations, but ultimately we saw two approaches to the role of the American power in the world. So as outside observers, we clearly know what to expect depending on who wins in November.
Trump does the Trump thing, with his transactional logic : “You pay, we protect you.” He had kind words for only one foreign leader: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. It may seem paradoxical that a candidate to lead the world’s strongest power should call only one character witness, the leader of a marginal European country, with an “illiberal” approach to politics, and singular ties with Russia and China. That says a lot about his worldview.
Short on substance
The current Vice-President is obviously the preferred candidate of most Europeans and other U.S allies around the world. And for good reason: she presents a traditional vision of America’s role, emphasizing alliances such as NATO, and the need to confront authoritarian, anti-democratic regimes.
How will she achieve what Joe Biden can’t ?
She embodies continuity and predictability, whereas Trump would be taking us into the unknown, or rather into a return to the creative chaos practiced when he was in the White House; between his “love letters” with the North Korean Kim Jong-un, his spats with Angela Merkel, and his failure to stand up to Vladimir Putin.
Where both candidates were weak was in their approach to current crises.
On Ukraine and Gaza, neither Donald Trump nor Kamala Harris offered any new insight into what they would do if they won on November 5. But here again, the differences are significant.
Trump reaffirmed, without providing any new information, that he would resolve these two major crises in 24 hours, even before entering the White House. But how ? He has the confidence of pseudo-”strongmen”: their mere presence is enough. It’s not much, and it’s worrying.
Contempt for the world
Kamala Harris, on the other hand, will continue to support Ukraine, and has expressed a balanced position on Israel: the right to defend itself, but insisting that the war must stop and the Palestinians must have the right to a state.
How will she achieve what Joe Biden can’t? She hasn’t said, and probably doesn’t have the answer.
The only certainty, as the personalities and backgrounds of the two candidates show, is that Trump has nothing but contempt for the rest of the world, which he wants to make pay — “tariffs, tariffs, tariffs,” is the only word on his lips — while Harris is playing up traditional American leadership and alliances.
Seen from Europe, the choice is clear; but let’s not forget, it’s the Americans who vote, and often do so with other criteria. It’s far fro certain that they saw this crucial debate the same way we did.
