Will the US election affect the UK?

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Over the past few years, everything that has happened in US politics seems to have had some effect on the UK

How much of an effect will the upcoming US election have? Will it affect us at all?

 

I'll take the liberty of intentionally going somewhat off-topic so that we don't end up with 100 threads titled "Will the US election affect (insert country here)"

I think it's safe to say that, given the US's position in the world, the outcome of the election will have an impact on pretty much everyone, whether it be because of foreign policy, fiscal policy, or whatever. What the US does affects eveybody to a certain degree.

 

I think what will impact things more (in a sense it is the election, though) is how much of the much promised 'change' the winner will actually try/succeed to bring about.

 

As Splunge said, the US' policy and general influence in economic and social affairs means that their choice of president will have some effect pretty much anywhere. Now, it might not be particularly strongly felt, but I'd say it will be there. Actually, the UK would probably be affected particularly strongly, as afaik British politicians generally follow Washington's lead in many issues, particularly foreign policy ones.

 

Yes, massively. The US president is the most powerful person in the world and the US dominates pretty much every facet of life. The UK will be one fo the countries most affected. The UK has been the US's biggest partner in the whole Afghanistan/Iraq affair. The UK will probably still follow the US's lead in pulling troops out and this is likely to happen sooner under Obama than McCain (though I suspect realities may mean Obama will still have to wait a while before it's feasible).

Economics is also a massive factor, the US generally drives the world and the UK is heavily linked to the American economy. The whole credit crunch downturn has its roots in the US but that hasn't stopped it hitting the UK hard. Obama is also likely to be more protectionist than McCain, hampering international trade. This is bad for the global economy and for the likes of the City, which has many American employers.

Those are the two main points I would say but it really will impact on what seems like trivial things. Greenday, for example, owe much of their renaissance to an album which was a powerful tirade against Bush's America!