By: SAIS Observer Board in DC
Edited By: Eric Omorogieva
Tomorrow, November 5, 2024, many of you will vote for your preferred candidate in a bitterly contested and acrimonious election. By then, others among you will have voted early or absent. To say the campaign was eventful in a country as polarized in the United States is merely an understatement. With insults, fake news, assassination attempts, dropouts, and criminal indictments and convictions, we do believe that this is a campaign historians will keep coming back to. Nevertheless, as part of a student community living through this event, we at The SAIS Observer focus on the here and now. Therefore, we decided to poll SAIS students to understand what you thought.
We sent an anonymous poll to the student body’s Signal chat group to capture your insights. It contained five questions: the student’s degree program, whether the student polled was American or international, expectations about the election, the desired change in American politics, and insights on how the US election would shape the world. We did not ask about their preferred candidate because we wanted to focus on policies, not personalities. Just as our SAIS student body is diverse, so are the answers we received.
Most people who answered belonged to the MAIR program. All were US citizens. Regarding what you expected from the elections, some pointed to legal battles with possibly dishonest goals despite a wish for a peaceful presidential transition. Others believed that American institutions would degrade. Another answer considered that a Republican takeover of the Senate was the only certainty. Another answer focused on post-election party shifts, the election’s effects on civil servants, and America’s global partnerships.
When polled on the desired change in American politics, our respondents focused on civility and solving issues. For one respondent, that included bipartisanship. Some mentioned wanting to get over the dehumanization of political opponents, while others expressed angst about losing their rights and freedoms or seeing them threatened. Some mentioned a wish for the United States to adapt to a multipolar world order, enjoy international respect, and ensure American economic policy also looked after that political goal.
Regarding the effect of the election on the world stage, the answers also diverged. One respondent commented that nothing would change, but that was not the prevailing mood. One respondent believed that US relations with different regions of the world would evolve differently depending on which candidate won. Two answers expressed concerns about authoritarianism. While one mentioned disinformation, trade wars, and division among allies, the other quoted the President of Kosovo’s remarks about how democratic backsliding in the United States could create a perverse template for the entire world to emulate. Another answer expressed wishes for peace in Ukraine, decreased tensions with China, and American leadership for the Global South.
If there is one lesson we can extrapolate from the results of this poll, it is that its answers reflect our diversity as the SAIS student body. Some of us are Americans; others are international. Some of our people are civilians, while others are in the military. Some have worked in the public sector, others in the private sector or the nonprofit sector, and a few of us have not even worked at all. Some people study for two years and others for one. Even among those who have studied for two years, some of us have spent that time in DC, while others have also learned in Nanjing and Bologna. Some of us were born well-off, while others have climbed the ladder. We represent different backgrounds, cultures, belief systems, and affiliations. Many can agree that having that environment is one of the highlights of our SAIS and DC experience. Hence, whatever happens tomorrow, let us not allow the election to take that away.
With our SAIS Observer team representing perspectives from around the world, our conversations have helped us understand how international students view the election. Whether we like to admit it or not, everything that happens behind the water’s edge flows beyond it, too. As people who view American democracy as a positive influence on the world, the US political system has fallen on hard times with intense polarization and an unwillingness to listen to the other side. Civility was a core virtue of the US electoral process because political opponents understood that, while the means were different, the end goal was the same: working towards an improved America—for itself and for the world. That virtue is under threat now. Perhaps there is nothing you or we can do to fix the system at this moment. However, as young people with a full career ahead of us, we can fix the polarization conundrum. It begins with a simple step: keeping an open mind. As future leaders, we can make America (and the world) great. Not through isolation, division, and skepticism, but through compassion, civility, and partnerships.
Whatever happens, we must remember that there is more to life than an election, as transformative as it may be. Therefore, we must avoid behaving in ways we will regret later. We should practice self-care, judge other people favorably, respect the boundaries of others, and still collaborate. In any case, we are there for you. As future policymakers in an institution as prestigious as ours, doing otherwise will be irresponsible. Let us not forget our responsibility to society. We should avoid all conceit: occasionally, the greatest change we need is in ourselves, us included. And let us remember: whatever the weather, SAIS must stand together.