International Students Tune In to American Elections

Romanian Ciprian A. Stratulat ’08 is not only paying close attention to his country’s upcoming elections, but is also tuning into the politics of the U.S. presidential election.

Stratulat and many other international students are taking notice of the upcoming presidential election—even though they can’t vote.

“Well of course, I am more interested in the Romanian elections. I can make a difference there; I can actually vote,” Stratulat said. “However, what the American people will decide will influence my country, but that is a decision I cannot influence.”

President of the Woodbridge Society, the College’s international student organization, Lukasz Strozek ’05 said that “internationals are generally quite interested in what is going on.” For him, at least, this interest has grown over the years.

“Compared to freshman year, I have definitely become more interested in what is around me,” Strozek said.

This increased interest comes from how international students are personally impacted by recent American politics, according to Jacqueline Bhabha, adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School.

Bhabha said the recent changes to the U.S. visa process have lengthened the time and effort required for international students to procure visas.

But there is also an emotional impact, she said.

“The war in Iraq has, of course, had enormous implications…[for example,] the doctrine of pre-emption, the incidents at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo,” Bhabha said. “Never before has America been the focus of so much political hostility.”

While foreign students can’t vote, there is some consensus among international students when it comes to their hypothetical vote, according to Robert I. Rotberg, director of the Program on Interstate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at the Kennedy School.

“All foreign commentators and reliable sources…assert that foreigners, especially students, overwhelmingly support Kerry,” Rotberg said.

Firth M. McEachern ’08, who has dual citizenship in United States and Canada but grew up in Nepal, Cambodia and Egypt, said that Egyptians are particularly nervous about the upcoming presidential election. He also said he is following the U.S. election more closely than past Egyptian or Canadian elections.

“If Bush is reelected, the war in Iraq will continue, which means more instability for the Middle East,” said McEachern, who has watched all of the hour-and-a-half long presidential debates.

But for other students, foreign policy is not their primary concern in this election.

“My concern is about getting a job after graduation…I would take an economist’s approach and look at each candidate’s program for job creation, balanced budget, and free trade,” said Latvian-Russian Sergey Trishin ’05 of how he would vote in this election, if he could.

While others are keenly watching how the U.S. presidential election unfolds, there are still some foreign students who are not as interested.

“If you ask me who would become prime minister of India, then I would care,” said Umang G. Bhatia ’08, on why he chose not to spend his evening watching the third presidential debate. “[The presidential election] is important, but I can’t really do anything, so I couldn’t care less.”