Courtesy The Guardian:

American presidential elections provide a near perfect test to understand the difference between European and Asian world views, even if the two continents are far from united internally. If you want America to lead by the power of example, you favour Barack Obama; if you want to be reassured by the continuation of America’s power in a traditional security sense, you probably prefer John McCain.

Whereas a majority of Europeans – with the exception of those who for historical and geographic reasons are obsessed with the return of the “Russian bear” – support Obama, a majority of Asians, particular among the elite, seem to support McCain. This difference stems above all from strategic considerations, but it probably also contains a cultural dimension.

In Asia, Indonesia may look “European” in its Obama craze, but it essentially constitutes an anomaly, easily explainable by Obama’s brief Indonesian upbringing. Otherwise, and for very different reasons, a majority of Asian elites are awaiting the growing possibility of an Obama victory with some bewilderment and even apprehension. For example, Japanese elites tend to favour continuity over change.

In their mind, the hard power of the United States is more important than its soft power, and their vision of an America “bound to lead” is largely unchanged. For them, the US is above all the strategic counterweight needed to balance China.

But the Chinese, too, may very likely be favouring McCain, for the opposite reason. The decline of America’s image and influence in the world does not annoy them. As Asia’s leading power, China has seized the mantle of “hope” from the US. America could regain it under Obama, but not under McCain. Why favour change, when continuity works so well?

Indian elites reach the same conclusion for different reasons. The Bush years are seen positively, for they coincide with the consolidation of India’s international status and emergence as America’s key diplomatic partner in Asia. In Singapore, ideological considerations reinforce strategic interests. A very conservative regime naturally tends to prefer a Republican candidate over a Democrat.

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