Daily Times

The US election is behind us but there’s still precious little to suggest that it is officially over. Strange as it is, President Trump has simply refused to accept the result so far and is already in the process of challenging it in court. And since it is not officially out a number of world leaders, most prominent among them being Russian President Vladimir Putin, have thought it only correct to wait till the confirmation from the state department before congratulating the winner. Financial markets, too, have stabilised for now but they are pricing in an unusual spike in volatility in December, which could imply a legal deadlock if President Trump has his way. The Republican Party hasn’t had anything to say about the new president-elect either, which goes to show how deep the political cleavage has become in Washington.

There is no precedent for such a situation so, should doubts about a possible deadlock really come true, there’s no telling how long it will take to make the kind of progress that will get Joe Biden congratulatory phone calls from Moscow and other such places. Till such a time US foreign policy will remain in something of a flux, of course, since the two parties are diametrically opposed on a number of very important issues like the Paris environment accord and the Iran nuclear deal. There is also the coronavirus to think about, especially since the US just became the only country to report more than 100,000 daily cases. Biden holds Trump directly responsible for this trend and this particular clash between the two is only going to get more bitter in case of a legal tangle in the transfer of power.

Such is America’s influence over the rest of the world that practically all countries must now wait for the dust to settle before they can gauge the new White House in accordance with their own particular sets of conditions. There is still an outside chance that President Trump will drop any plans for an ugly legal battle and just walk away gracefully. But in case he doesn’t, which is far more likely, a world on edge will await the result. *