Die Anhörung der wahrscheinlich neuen Supreme-Court-Richterin Amy Coney Barrett hat begonnen. Die Republikaner machen vor der Präsidentschaftswahl Tempo – genau das hatten sie vor vier Jahren noch kritisiert.

In wenigen Wochen wählen die USA ihren neuen Präsidenten. Wie ist die Stimmung im Land? Eine US-Expertin erklärt, ob gewalttätige Auseinandersetzungen im Zuge der Wahlen zu erwarten sind und was passiert, wenn Trump sich weigert, das Weiße Haus zu verlassen.

Die USA haben die Wahl – und die Welt schaut gebannt auf ein Land, das polarisierter scheint als je zuvor: Die einen feiern Präsident Donald Trump als Heilsbringer, die anderen sehen in ihm eine Gefahr für die Demokratie. Halten die USA das aus?

Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook analyzes Kamala Harris' performance at the U.S. Vice Presidential debate.

Europeans do not approve of President Trump — by huge margins in recent surveys. Substantial majorities across the continent said they favored a Joe Biden victory over a Trump win in November. On one level, this reflects a genuine yearning for a Biden presidency after four years of Trumpian volatility. But on a deeper level, Europe’s view of America is also changing. 

American democracy is facing pressure from all sides: For months, there have been partly violent protests against systemic racism and police violence of the “Black Lives Matter” movement. The COVID pandemic has already claimed over 200,000 lives and has extreme economic consequences. Coupled with a polarized media landscape and the growing influence of social media, the pandemic has further exposed deep social divisions along ideological, economic and ethnic fault lines. In addition, the Trump administration is stepping up its escalatory description of the integrity of the American electoral system - what some consider to be a rigid electoral and party system in need of reform. How will the social conflicts affect the understanding of (American) democracy? How is the political establishment contributing to alienation from the Constitution?

Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook spoke to German national radio on President Trump's COVID diagnosis and how it will affect the next few weeks of the campaign.

Unilateralism and isolationism are making a comeback in the United States. Are Trump and his America First approach to the world a cause or a symptom? What are the ideological sources of the intimate connection between isolationism and the American experience? Will the COVID-19 pandemic undercut or deepen globalization? What impact will it have on U.S. grand strategy? The United States seems headed for an inevitable pullback of its global commitments. What should retrenchment look like? Can Americans find the middle ground between doing too much and doing too little?

Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook from Harvard Kennedy School criticizes the course of the debate. In terms of content, she sees Biden ahead.

It was the first TV duel between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Many topics were up for debate, but there were fewer concrete discussions because the US president barely allowed his political opponent to speak. When Joe Biden commented on his content, Trump confronted Biden with his family history.