US Elections 2016
Abstract
The U.S. presidential campaign of 2016 is raging on and on. With the November approaching, and the campaign being on the rise, political issues of the U.S. are becoming more interesting to the world society. Till the beginning of May the number of candidates was still pretty sufficient to make any projections. Under Clinton’s presidency the relations between the U.S. and China may turn into a complete mess. According to her position, the U.S. should observe its national interests, and if China is an obstacle to their achievement, the relations between them should be at a minimum level. Bernie Sanders’ view on relations with China is also dictated by the idea of promoting national interests. He believes that any international treaty on trade may hinder the U.S. labor force as well as weaken its labor unions. At the same time, in his rhetoric regarding bringing the American greatness back, Trump admits that China outperformed the U.S. in trade and economic policy. He suggests breaking the WTO rules and imposing tariffs on Chinese goods in order to save national produces from the losing battle with cheap products from China. Currently, the entire world is waiting for America’s choice that can change the foreign policy of the entire continent and NATO as well.
US Elections 2016
The U.S. presidential campaign of 2016 is raging on and on. In 2015, when politicians and journalists were just beginning to talk about upcoming presidential elections, it was difficult to predict that the campaign would be so controversial; the battle would be so brutal; and the results so unpredictable. A little was known about the exact number of candidacies from the both parties as well as about their political aspirations. Moreover, in 2015 the world had entered such a drastic period of its history that the entire focus was shifted from the U.S. to the regions that suffered from the civil war, migration crisis and terror attacks.
However, with the November approaching, and the campaign being on the rise, political issues of the U.S. are becoming more interesting to the world society. The Democratic Party nominated six candidacies, with Hillary Rodham Clinton, Marin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders having the lead. From the very beginning, it was clear that only two of them, Clinton and Sanders, would fight for the right to represent their party on the final nationwide elections. The Republican side nomination was more complicated. It had at least fourteen candidates who were eager to win the right for the final fight at elections. However, the front-runners of this group were Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Jeb Bush. The main difficulty was in the fact that all nominees had polarized interests and lobbied different positions inside the party. This turns the entire elections campaign into a representation of different political opinions and aspirations, and Americans are left to judge which direction their country is to take (Patterson).
Till the beginning of May the number of candidates was still pretty sufficient to make any projections. However, one by one all political leaders of the Republicans were suspending their presidential campaign, leaving Trump the only one candidate for the position. Besides, his candidacy was not backed by the majority of the members of his party yet. The Democrats left are Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. With the leaders of the race being known, analytics start making their judgments about possible outcomes of elections for the relations between states (“Who Is Running for President?”). Despite the fact that it is quite early to make any projections regarding what way the U.S. is going to take in case one of them wins, their programs make their positions with relation to some issues of the foreign policy quite clear.
Under Clinton’s presidency the relations between the U.S. and China may turn into a complete mess. Hillary Clinton once wrote that the relations of the U.S. and China can hardly fit into such categorization as friend or rival. Recognizing that these two states should work on cultivating trust and cooperation, she also criticized China a lot. The main positions where cooperation is expected are climate change and North Korea nuclear issue that seems quite weak for indeed mutual benefit. This means that collaboration with Asian giant will be subject to strictly issues of the international security and world order. Moreover, she mentioned that military development of China had recently put another challenge to the world’s balance of powers. According to her position, the U.S. should observe its national interests, and if China is an obstacle to their achievement, the relations between the should be at a minimum level (“Campaign 2016: The Candidates & The World”).
Bernie Sanders is another Democratic candidate who has a huge and substantial experience on the state position as well as strong opinion regarding every issue in the American internal and external policy. He is a quite unconventional candidate because his campaign is a typically unorthodox fashion (Berman). He entered the political race as a main opponent to Donald Trump’s candidacy, believing that men and women who fought for American democracy would want a billionaire to hold the position of the president. He is the one who intends to focus on achieving progress in the fight against income and wealth inequality, and has a clear vision of what finance reform is needed for this. Extending the American middle class and promoting the eradication of poverty is the main point of Sanders’ presidential campaign.
His view on relations with China is also dictated by the idea of promoting national interests. He believes that any international treaty on trade may hinder the U.S. labor force as well as weaken its labor unions. Such a treaty, especially if signed with China, may have very serious consequences for competition in the country. Sanders is completely against trade deals with countries whose wages are much lower than that of the U.S. However, he is less radical in his rhetoric about relations with China. Climate and environmental problems should remain the subject of common discussion. Sanders pays attention to the outsourcing issues that now overwhelm the American market, and sees them as the main threat to the American employment situation (“Campaign 2016: The Candidates & The World”).
Donald Trump is probably the most eccentric candidate on the 2016 presidential race. Hardly anybody could imagine that he would manage to eliminate every other competitor from his party and remain the only nominee from the Republican Party. He often points out at the obvious failures of the incumbent president and current administration with the only one motto: he wants to make America great again. Trump is a real estate mogul with billions on his account, but he entered presidential elections and now nothing stops him. He is famous for his expressions regarding the role of particular states in the national interests of the U.S. and explains how they might be used to achieve the goals. For example, migration issue on the Mexican border he suggests to solve by building a wall. Despite being a great disappointment for some of the Democrats, he wins the majority of the primaries in many states throughout the country. Probably, this is the hero whom America waited so long, but he still needs to get support from the Republican Party as the only candidate (“Donald Trump”).
In his rhetoric regarding bringing the American greatness back, Trump admits that China outperformed the U.S. in trade and economic policy. He suggests breaking the WTO rules and imposing tariffs on Chinese goods in order to save national produces from the losing battle with cheap products from China. Trump calls China for negotiations regarding this issue, or there will be consequences for the Chinese. As a president, he would designate China as a currency manipulator who uses competitive devaluation of the yuan as a tool for competition. He has a point about this, that is why he is widely supported by producers. Moreover, he is insisting on starting a fight for the protection of the U.S. intellectual property, as China is the main thief in the list. As a president and a billionaire, Trump would back lower corporate tax, decrease national debt and solidify the U.S. military position in the Asia-Pacific region. Such actions, according to his point of view, would ensure the U.S. superior position over China in all aspects from economy to politics (“Campaign 2016: The Candidates & The World”).
Therefore, all three candidates are united in their cautious position regarding the U.S. relations with China. However, not all of them declare that they are ready to take such radical actions as imposing tariffs and breaking the WTO rules on trade. It seems that Hillary Clinton avoids making explicit comments about her policy towards China. During her career in politics, she met with Chinese leaders, so her candidacy is more popular in China than of her competitors (Tiezzi). In his program, Sanders pays attention to those actions of China that are obvious not only in the U.S., but for other developed nations too. For example, accusing China of cheap workforce and unfair competition is not a new thing in the relations between these countries. Besides, both of candidates are concerned about environmental protection and are ready to cooperate. Donald Trump, in contrast, prepares America to radical actions in order to make the country great again. Open confrontation in trade is one of his ways of making things work. This year’s presidential rally is indeed full of surprises and unexpectancies. One by one, strong leaders of the Democrats suspend their campaigns and give way to those who didn’t get support at the beginning. The entire world is waiting for America’s choice that can change the foreign policy of the entire continent and NATO as well. Russia and China are among those countries whose relations with the U.S. directly depend on the personality and position of the presidential nominees, and in all three cases they are not intended to be improved.
Works Cited
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Tiezzi, Shannon. “Why China Dreads a Hillary Clinton Presidency.” The Diplomat: The Rebalance. The Diplomat, 10 Feb 2016. http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/why-china-dreads-a-hillary-clinton-presidency/
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