Thursday Briefing: How the U.S. election is viewed abroad

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October 24, 2024

	By Natasha Frost and Gaya Gupta

Good morning. We talked to our chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe about how the U.S. election is viewed abroad.

Plus, the dark side of A.I. companionship apps.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump during the presidential debate last month. Doug Mills/The New York Times

What the U.S. election means for the world

People around the world are closely following the U.S. campaign as it heads into its final stretch. The outcome of the election on Nov. 5 will have repercussions around the globe: The two candidates, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, often have starkly different views on global crises and challenges.

For some insight on how the U.S. election is being viewed abroad, we reached out to Steven Erlanger, The Times’s chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe.

How are election watchers around the world feeling?

Steven: There’s this kind of fascination and almost fury, a feeling that so much of life or policy in Europe depends on voters in North Carolina and Georgia and Arizona — because the American president, in a way, is everybody’s president. It’s just too big and important and rich a country.

Kamala Harris has taken great steps to differentiate herself from President Biden. How might her administration differ?

Her whole experience and personal life is different — coming from California, being half Indian, half Jamaican. The cliché is that Biden is America’s last true trans-Atlanticist. That’s not really true, but it’s not in her experience. World War II was a long time ago, so her view is just going to be different.

One has the sense on Gaza, for instance, that Harris has more empathy with Palestinian suffering than Biden seems to have. Does she share the same commitment to Israel? Probably, but differently. Would she behave differently with Netanyahu? Probably. When it comes to her foreign policy, we really don’t know.

Would a second Trump administration substantially differ from the first one?

Last time, Trump wasn’t prepared to win, and he pulled together all these people he didn’t really know, most of whom were classic Republican and military people who spent most of their time trying to convince him not to do what he wanted to do.

This time, if he wins, he’s going to be surrounded by a lot of very smart, much more ideological people, who know how the system works, and who want to turn his instincts into policy.

What issues are people particularly concerned about?

The biggest issue is national security, which is for Europe, really, Ukraine and NATO. The two are connected. There is anxiety over Donald Trump, because Trump is, on many issues, rhetorically firm, but actually unpredictable. He thinks that NATO is a club that people have to pay dues to, and nobody’s paying enough — and America’s being the chump.

Some worry that if Trump, for example, starts saying he doesn’t believe in NATO, or won’t defend a member that isn’t spending enough on defense, he’ll undermine NATO’s credibility and the faith in Article 5. That flows into the next real worry, which is Ukraine. If Ukraine falls, Russia’s on the Polish border.

There is a related concern that if Republicans sweep the presidency and Congress, there will be fewer restraints on Trump.

More on the U.S. election Election Day is less than two weeks away. Trump’s campaign accused Britain’s governing Labour Party of “blatant foreign interference.” John Kelly, the longest-serving chief of staff in the Trump White House, said that he believed that Trump met the definition of a fascist. Harris and Trump rarely address the issue of gender directly. But the election is in many ways a referendum on the role of women in American life. The torrent of half-truths, lies and fabrications swirling around the election has exceeded anything that came before, according to disinformation experts. Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us, and we’ll find the answers.

Ahn Young-Joon/Associated Press

The U.S. said North Korean troops were in Russia

The U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, said yesterday that North Korea had sent troops to Russia to fight in the war in Ukraine and called the North’s presence a “very, very serious” escalation.

Austin cast President Vladimir Putin’s need for North Korean mercenaries as a sign of desperation. A U.S. national security spokesman said that North Korea had sent at least 3,000 soldiers into training sites in eastern Russia. Here’s what we know.

Related: North Korea’s decision to dispatch troops to help Russia may put China in a tough spot diplomatically.

Smoke rose above Tyre, Lebanon, on Wednesday. Aziz Taher/Reuters

Sports

John Jones/USA TODAY Sports, via Reuters

Lucas Burtin

For some American couples with opposing politics, election season can’t end soon enough. With this year’s presidential race proving particularly divisive, several couples shared how they were navigating their political differences and separating partner from party.

Lives lived: Gustavo Gutiérrez, the Peruvian priest and scholar who was regarded as the father of Latin American liberation theology, died. He was 96.

These blobs were photographed on the shores of Newfoundland by a resident. David McGrath

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.

On the left, a text exchange between the chatbot and Sewell Seltzer. Sewell’s mother, Megan Garcia, right. Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

Can A.I. be blamed for a teenager’s suicide?

Just before taking his own life, Sewell Setzer, a 14-year-old from Florida, took out his phone and texted his closest friend: a lifelike A.I. chatbot.

He had spent months talking to chatbots on Character.AI, a role-playing app, and had developed an emotional attachment. He preferred talking to the bot over his therapist about his problems. This week, Sewell’s mother filed a lawsuit against Character.AI, accusing the company of being responsible for her son’s death.

There is now a booming, largely unregulated industry of artificial intelligence companionship apps designed to simulate intimate relationships. My colleague Kevin Roose, a tech columnist, spoke to experts who said there might be a dark side to these A.I. companions. Read his column here.

Julia Gartland for The New York Times

Cook: Braised white beans and greens make a satisfying vegetarian main course or a hearty side dish.

Watch: Angela Merkel spends her retirement investigating small-town murders in “Miss Merkel.”

Cope: Most people with dementia will experience changes in mood and behavior. Here are strategies that can help.

Travel: One of Japan’s four main islands, Kyushu is rich in crafts, history and culture.

Listen: Wirecutter writers discuss how to invest in durable cookware and tools.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all of our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow.

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