Though we often focus on domestic policy, the stakes of this year's presidential election stretch beyond America’s shores.
That's according to experts speaking Tuesday at a conference on international democracy at Notre Dame.
If you’re an American, you might feel like tuning out the rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump but people around the world don’t have that luxury.
That was the take from Frank Langfitt, a veteran foreign affairs reporter with National Public Radio. As part of Notre Dame’s inaugural Global Democracy Conference, panelists were asked what impact the election will have on the rest of the world.
Over his 30 years of foreign affairs work, Langfitt said he’s seen U.S. influence decline globally. It started with the Great Recession of 2008 and worsened when Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 as Trump refused to accept his election defeat.
Still, Langfitt cited two examples of countries who will be watching election night returns especially closely: Ukraine and Taiwan. Trump wants to give both countries considerably less help than what the Biden administration has given.
"This is an incredibly consequential election and the Taiwanese and the Ukrainians and the eastern Europeans will be watching it extremely closely," Langfitt said.
