Every four years, reports start appearing about attempts by foreign countries to influence the outcome of our national elections. They’ve become predictable; Russia, China, Iran — those considered our main adversaries — are launching disinformation campaigns designed to boost one candidate or the other.
Less publicized are the efforts by our friends like England, France, Germany or Israel, to do the same thing.
If a full accounting of the matter were to be done, it would document the fact that virtually any country of any size around the world has a major stake in the U.S. election, and acts accordingly. And the reason is obvious: We have by far the biggest economy in the world, the most advanced technology, the greatest wealth and the most feared military.
So the consequences of any change in political direction in the U.S. would be felt all over the world. This has long been true — reports of foreign meddling in our elections date back to the earliest days of the republic. In 1796, for example, a French agent released private information to the public to try and sway the election in favor of Thomas Jefferson. But the difference in our time is that hyper-globalization of the world’s economy since the 1990s has kicked election meddling into overdrive.
Americans started feeling with new intensity the effects of globalization with the emergence of trade deals like NAFTA, and the loss of manufacturing jobs to countries with cheaper labor forces.
But it was only when Covid hit, did the complexity of the global supply chains become apparent, as did our vulnerability to obtaining basic goods in a crisis. These are problems, much like the pandemic itself, that cannot actually be solved locally; they require global solutions.
Politicians can argue about the costs and benefits of globalization, but they are virtually powerless to slow it down, let alone stop it. They may be able to lessen the deleterious domestic effects with tariffs, quotas, subsidies and other protectionist moves. But these come with risks of their own and often go hand-in-hand with nativist, anti-immigrant, regressive political campaigns that prove self-defeating in the long term.
And they are essentially ahistorical in nature.
So it is natural that our fierce domestic debates over policy differences would be closely monitored around the world. Other countries’ entire political economies may rise or fall depending on which direction the U.S. takes.
These fundamental matters are in the end more significant than the surface ideological concerns that seem to drive foreign interference in our election cycles. In an inter-connected world economy, everybody has a stake in the game.
And the game starts here.
HEADLINES:
‘I’m a black NAZI!’: NC GOP nominee for governor made dozens of disturbing comments on porn forum (CNN)
Robinson says he’s staying in NC governor’s race after bombshell CNN report (The Hill)
Springfield children 'fearful' amid dozens of bomb threats after false migrant rumors (NBC)
How the Trump Campaign Ran With Rumors About Pet-Eating Migrants—After Being Told They Weren’t True (WSJ)
GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s original racist lie about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, has been proven wrong time and time again — but now he’s back with a new one — and another one. [HuffPost]
Evangelicals for Harris want to pull their fellow believers away from Trump (AP)
A California man is part of a wave of Donald Trump supporters who bombard the ex-president’s opponents with threatening messages worded carefully to avoid arrest. As fears of violence rise ahead of the election, has he crossed a line? (Reuters)
Voters view Harris more favorably as she settles into role atop Democratic ticket: AP-NORC poll (AP)
How Israel Built a Modern-Day Trojan Horse: Exploding Pagers (NYT)
Pager attack brings to life long-feared supply chain threat (WP)
Israeli air attack on Beirut kills three as cross-border fire intensifies (Al Jazeera)
Israeli airstrikes hit south Lebanon as Hezbollah accuses it of crossing ‘all red lines’ (Politico)
New research points to raccoon dogs in Wuhan market as pandemic trigger. It's controversial (NPR)
US denies claim CIA plotted to kill Venezuela president (BBC)
In an Unprecedented Move, Ohio Is Funding the Construction of Private Religious Schools (ProPublica)
Rampant adoption fraud separated generations of South Korean children from their families (AP)
New audio disputes ruling that stripped Jordan Chiles of Olympic medal (WP)
Apple Intelligence is now available in public betas (Verge)
Tech Jobs Have Dried Up—and Aren’t Coming Back Soon (WSJ)
Taylor Swift Breaks Political Silence To Throw Support Behind Restoring ShÅgun To Throne Of Japan (The Onion)
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