Foreign policy Why the stakes have never been higher for US and the rest of the world

When Americans choose between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris next month, the decision will mark one of the most consequential elections for American foreign policy in generations that could ripple out into conflicts and redraw alliances around the world.

- Andrew Roth

With the candidates deadlocked in the final polls before election day on Tuesday 5 November, just tens of thousands of voters could decide whether world leaders face a US centrist in the vein of Joe Biden or a second term of office for one of the most disruptive American politicians of the last century.

The election comes at a moment when foreign leaders have appealed for American leadership and diplomacy, as Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon risk spiralling into a full-scale regional conflict with Iran, Russia's invasion of Ukraine faces further potential escalation with reports of North Korean troops sent to the frontlines, a civil war in Sudan raging for a second year, and warnings of growing trade and military competition between the US and China.

Trump's brand of America First politics has already sown instability among both partners and adversaries; Nato countries say that never before has the US been seen as the "unpredictable ally", a country where instability around elections is the norm and the alliance's long-term plans must be "Trump-proofed".

European diplomats in Washington have expressed dismay with the Biden administration's cautious foreign policy, especially in relation to Ukraine and the White House's failed efforts to conclude a ceasefire in Gaza, while also steeling themselves for the very real possibility of a Trump victory and the instability that would inject into world politics.

"I can't say for sure whether [Trump] would seek a deal with [Vladimir] Putin on day one or whether he would drop a nuclear bomb on Moscow," one European ambassador said. "The truth is that it's a black box and that anyone who tells you that they know what's going on inside [his] administration is lying."