With less than 24 hours to go in the US election and more than 77.6m votes already cast, Americans’ choice between Kamala Harris and Donald trump will soon be known.
The implications of this choice extend far beyond the borders of the United States as the next President will not only influence domestic policies but also shape the future of international alliances.
The decisions of whoever wins in the White House can have a huge effect on the course of conflicts around the world, especially, Israel’s war in Gaza and Lebanon and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Speaking with the Vaultz News, International Relations Expert, Alhassan Bello weighed in on the significance of this election and its potential ramifications for these conflicts.
With opinion polls indicating a fiercely contested race, Bello noted that “Nationwide is too hard to call, but I foresee perhaps a repeat of 2016 when Trump won the election on the basis of winning the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.”
According to Bello, a Trump presidency will be a disaster for Ukrainians. Trump and several Republican lawmakers are strongly against providing crucial US military aid to Ukraine.
If Kyiv loses US funding – its biggest source of military aid – it could lose the war.
He stated that a Kamala Harris presidency would offer continuity, which means more support in terms of financing, developmental aid, military assistance that include training, logistics, and advanced weaponry to the Ukrainian government and its military, fighting Russian invasion.
A Trump presidency, he said, could mean otherwise, noting that it could exert pressure on Ukraine to accept certain conditions imposed by Russia that may include ceding some of the territories.
Also, he asserted that a Harris presidency offers further consolidation for NATO against the global challenge posed by China and Russia as well as Iran and North Korea.
However, a Trump presidency could be further disruption in NATO. “We saw under his previous leadership, the kind of division that his policies created within NATO. So we may see a repeat of that,” he said.
Trump Thought To Give More Support To Netanyahu Than Harris
On the other hand, Bello noted that in Middle East, Trump presidency could offer more continuity of support to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and his invasion on Gaza than a Harris presidency.
He opined that at the moment, Harris has been confined and limited due to the fact that she’s still under President Joe Biden and is not the lead policy maker.
“Only thing she’s being blamed for is not coming forthrightly to admit that there’s a genocide in Gaza. Secondly, not distancing and also promising something new.
“But I think the Kamala Harris presidency would offer would bring more pressure to be on what do you call it? Netanyahu. And that would probably prepare us for diplomatic solution.”
Alhassan Bello
The major question, he said, was as to how or whether the resistance front, be it Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran itself will accept anything other than what has been presented with the city council and approved as a basis for negotiation and ceasefire.
“Mind you, when it comes to ending the conflict, everybody in the axis of resistance team, including Iranians, have emphasized that only what is acceptable to Hamas and Gaza will be acceptable to them. So would she stick by Biden’s proposal or she would try to formulate something new?
“We wait to see, but she would probably bring more pressure to be on the Israelis than Trump. Because in his previous term we saw various attempt to undermine the Palestinian, national aspiration.”
Alhassan Bello
However, he added that regardless of what happens, “we wait to see who wins, and then that we can also take a further look at their policies and how it will probably impact all of us in the world in this particular theater.”
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