Lecture Series of the North American Studies Program in cooperation with the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb) and AmerikaHaus e.V. Nordrhein-Westfalen:

The White House Embattled? The U.S. Election 2020

U.S. Foreign Policy and the Presidential Race

with 
Andrea Rotter, M.A.
Akademie für Politik und Zeitgeschehen | Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung

“It’s the economy, stupid” – Bill Clinton’s famous catchphrase from his 1992 campaign underlines the conventional wisdom that presidential elections are not won on foreign policy. In other words, the U.S. electorate cares more about the state of the economy and their own financial well-being than about America’s engagement abroad. However, certain international developments do increase the voters’ interest in foreign affairs. Ever since 9/11, national security and the fight against terrorism have been ranking high in presidential debates, and so have candidates’ strategies to end the U.S.’s seemingly endless military engagements. And although the COVID-19 pandemic adds a lot of uncertainty to the presidential race, President Trump and his “America first”-guided foreign policy may well result in a more prominent role for foreign policy in the 2020 elections.  Andrea Rotter heads the Foreign and Security Policy Division at the Hanns Seidel Foundation’s Academy for Politics and Current Affairs in Munich, where she focuses on both German and European security and defense policy as well as U.S. foreign policy and transatlantic security cooperation. Her current projects deal with transatlantic relations in the context of the U.S.-Chinese power competition, the increasing militarization of space, and the enhancement of German resilience in hybrid conflict situations.

The lecture will only be streamed via Zoom.

Mandatory registration via mail to: info@amerikahaus-nrw.de