As WPR editor-in-chief Judah Grunstein predicted yesterday, final night time’s U.S. presidential election debate between VP Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump included little dialogue of U.S. international coverage writ giant, when it comes to sounding out the candidates’ pondering on big-picture developments. That’s notably unlucky this yr, as a result of dramatic adjustments in international affairs over the previous 4 years have made the query of America’s international function extra related—and extra contested—than ever.
Some particular however vital points had been additionally given quick shrift. Most notably, neither candidate was requested about U.S. strategic competitors with China, regardless of the consensus in Washington, rightly or wrongly, that it’s the nation’s greatest international coverage problem. As an alternative, the one dialogue of that competitors by the candidates was round Trump’s proposal to implement substantial tariffs on commerce with China. Local weather change solely got here up as soon as, and the dialog rapidly pivoted to manufacturing. Each sequences underscored the diploma to which U.S. international coverage debates more and more body international challenges by way of a really slim home lens.
Nonetheless, there was some dialogue of the 2 main conflicts that the U.S. is most concerned in: the Israel-Hamas conflict and the conflict in Ukraine. On the previous, Harris took pains to not stray from the course she set along with her speech on the Democratic Nationwide Conference, concurrently pledging to keep up U.S. assist for Israel and recognizing the humanitarian affect of Israel’s army operations on Palestinians in Gaza. Trump, in the meantime, mentioned he would “get that settled and quick,” providing no particulars as to how.
