The coming US elections couldn’t have happened under more dramatic nor crucially important circumstances.
The world sits ravaged by the Coronavirus, economies braced for one of the worst downturns in living memory and countries and societies polarised and divided like never before. Therefore an election that would decide not only the shape and direction of the US administration for the next four years, but potentially some of the most critical questions facing humanity in several generations, is one that demands full attention.
Whether it be global health care and well- being, racial and economic equality, the economy, climate change, public, personal and cybersecurity, privacy and data regulation, human rights and democracy or extremism and terrorism of all types, whoever sits in the White House come January 2021, will be instrumental.
The Cordoba Foundation in collaboration with Alwaleed bin Talal Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University convened a very timely webinar on 11th of August, which addressed the US elections and its potential impact on democracy in the MENA region. The webinar attracted much attention for understandable reasons. The Trump administration, in the eyes of many, gave oxygen to oppressive regimes and elevated the status of ‘strongmen’, otherwise more commonly known for being dictators, tyrants and oppressors and a return of President Trump would send a clear message that America would continue to not only stand by, but grant actual support to the regimes of Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and UAE among others.