Outside views worth listening to

Ever wonder how other nations view us?

For New Mexicans, the first thing a foreigner might think is that we’re a part of our neighbor to the south.

If they knew Billy the Kid became famous as a Wild West outlaw here, then maybe they’d know we’re a bonafide state in the good ol’ USA, but as most traveling New Mexicans already know, U.S. citizens don’t even know that.

Personally, I once had a man in Memphis, Tenn., when he saw me wearing a New Mexico T-shirt, engage me in a conversation about illegal immigration until I explained that I’m already a U.S. citizen, thank you very much. In other parts of the world, I imagine it’s even worse.

Nevertheless, outside perspectives are always interesting, which is why I found recent excerpts from publications in other nations particularly interesting as I read through my favorite magazine these days.

The Week is a national magazine that mostly draws its content from newspapers around the nation and world, and in its “How they see us” feature, it recently took a look at what publications in China, Canada, Brazil and France viewed our midterm election results.

Mostly they saw the midterms as a litmus test on democracy, although, not surprisingly, China was the most critical of how it bodes for the rest of the world.

Our midterms were a mess from the outset, opined China’s Global Times. Both parties ignored the voters’ interests by downplaying inflation and a coming recession and instead worked to incite them with “ideological language” — with Republicans harping on a stolen 2020 election while Democrats played up threats to democracy.

Then the Chinese publication gave emphasis to America’s political dysfunction and its “destructive spillover effects” for the rest of the world.

Not surprisingly, Canada’s Toronto Star had a more positive outlook on our midterms, suggesting that they showed how our democracy “may be bruised … but it did not crumble,” and crediting women and the abortion-rights issue as the primary reason for Democratic Party wins.

The Star also speculated that those Republicans who did win may now be more likely “to leave Trump to stew in his own soup of lies, victimization, and grievance.”

That may be, but Hélio Schwatsman of Folba de Sáo Paulo in Brazil said far-right authoritarianism is still a force in American politics, and that remains a significant danger for the rest of the world.

But I found the point Thomas Legrand made in the French publication Libération to be far more poignant. Trumpism, he said, thrives on the “misconception that America has lost its influence” in the world, but that’s not the case at all. U.S. elections matter greatly to the rest of the world, and misinformation spread from Silicon Valley social media giants undermine democracies worldwide.

And our military support in places like Ukraine hold sway over wars won and lost by democracies.

Meanwhile, efforts to combat climate change hinge on America’s leadership, Legrand suggested.

If the world was fair, he suggested, the world and not just U.S. citizens would “be able to vote in American elections.” That’s how consequential our elections are to the rest of the world.

Of course, that’s not going to happen, but such a perspective cannot easily be dismissed.

America controls its own destiny, but as some of the above commentary points out, our destiny is wrapped up on the world’s. That’s a big responsibility for us, and we’d be wise to listen to those who are observing from afar. Friend and foe alike.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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