Conclusion: A “Global Event” With global Stakeholders: Obama’s Election and the “Idea” of America

Abstract

The previous chapters centered on a set of larger questions. First, did the 2008 US presidential election matter with respect to the various countries considered in this volume, and if so, how and why? The fact that the United States is globally too relevant for its major domestic political events to be ignored emerged quickly and repeatedly in the individual studies discussed in various chapters. The US continues to maintain a hegemonic position in the early twenty-first century, and hence there is a need for practically all countries across the globe to pay close attention to key events in Washington.