https://consortiumnews.com/2016/10/21/embarrassing-america-before-the-world/

Embarrassing America Before the World

October 21, 2016

Despite 15 years of war, foreign policy has rated only brief flurries of debate in Election 2016 with Hillary Clinton pushing a hawkish agenda and Donald Trump often incoherent, notes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.

By Paul R. Pillar
The current election campaign has done more to set back U.S. foreign relations, and the cause of good foreign policy, than has any other American presidential election within memory. One reason is the overall sordid image of American democracy in action that is being projected to people around the world, and to governments with an interest in exploiting that image.
The ugly picture includes the amount of attention given — unsurprisingly and necessarily so, given the character, comments, and conduct of Donald Trump — to such things as allegations of a candidate sexually assaulting women.
Even more damaging in terms of the picture being projected overseas is what Trump has done to the part of that picture involving the essential standards and practices that make American democracy work and keep the country politically stable. What separates the United States in that respect from many supposed democracies that are far less stable are peaceful transitions of power and respect for the will of the people as expressed in elections.
This means that losers gracefully accept election outcomes, and that winners let losers walk away with freedom to campaign again another day. That’s much different from countries where losers launch insurgencies or winners throw their opponents in jail.
Trump has attacked both of those American standards of behavior. On the first, he has incessantly told his followers that if he loses it will be because of a rigged election, and the biggest headline coming from Wednesday night’s debate was his refusal to commit to accepting the election result.
On the second, he has led rallies at which the chants about Hillary Clinton have been “lock her up,” and in a previous debate he threatened to do exactly that if he wins. Then Wednesday night, for good measure, he said that Clinton should not have been allowed to run for president in the first place.
The projection of this picture overseas sours millions on America and the American political system, and the United States loses some of its soft power as a result. Many get soured on democracy in general. And governments that have good reason to be defensive about their own political processes gleefully exploit the picture to divert attention from their own deficiencies and to accuse the United States of double standards. https://consortiumnews.com/2016/10/21/embarrassing-america-before-the-world/