“The decline of American power is relative”, deciphers Philip Golub, professor of international relations

The international context of this election is somewhat unprecedented with the war in Ukraine and that in Gaza. How do you see the place that the question of international relations has taken, or not, in this electoral campaign?

International issues generally do not play a determining role in U.S. elections. There are of course exceptions. The Vietnam War impacted election results in 1968 and 1972, with a rift within the Democratic Party. The war in Ukraine does not fall into this category.

As for the war in the Middle East – the war in Gaza and that in Lebanon are part of one and the same war, in reality – there was a slightly stronger impact due to the mobilizations on the campus and the size of the Arab-American population in Michigan, which represents 3% of the local vote and which could well tip the state to Trump's side, either by abstention or, more curiously, by a vote rejection of the Biden administration, via a vote for Trump.