Soli Özel on the US Elections
“The elections should be seen as a clash between America’s past and those imagining a new future for their country.”
On November 2nd, the day before the US Presidential Election, Soli Özel, political commentator and Visiting Lecturer of International Relations and Political Science at Kadir Has University talked to our Director İpek Cem Taha about the possible outcomes of the election and its impact on Turkey. In his opening remarks, Soli Özel stated that, institutionally, the election system in the US does not translate into the contemporary dynamics of American society. Rural states have disproportionate electoral strength based on the political structures of a rural past which no longer exists. Even though Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 presidential elections, her votes came from states representing %60 of the US economy. The electoral system is archaic and almost impossible to change. According to Özel, the elections should hence be seen as a clash between America’s past and those imagining a new future for their country.
Fair elections are one of the main pillars of US democracy. Under the Trump administration, Özel continued, the reliability of the election system came under dispute. On the other hand, the day before the election, there was a lot of anxiety among a deeply polarized society in the fear of an atmosphere of potential chaos.
Özel also talked about possible outcomes of the presidential elections in shaping US foreign policy perspectives. Seen in a historical trajectory, Özel argued that after the Cold War, the US continued to make numerous military interventions in different parts of the world which had a high cost on society, especially on the working-class Americans, who could no longer afford the American Dream. The emergence of radical political movements such as the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street should thus be understood in this broader context. Özel argued that if Biden wins the elections, he will repair and strengthen ties with the EU, especially with countries like Germany and France. Like Trump, Biden will seek to contain China, however, he will try to do so with the support of US ally countries. Biden sees Turkey as an important security partner and hence will ask Turkey to re-shape its foreign policy orientations as a NATO ally.
As we awaited the election results in the following days, Soli Özel’s foresight made us all re-think the future of democracy as radical movements and authoritarianism continue to gain currency around the world with increasing pressures on free and fair elections. We hope to hear more from Özel to further discuss how US foreign policy will shift under the Biden administration and its possible consequences in a global context.