An American Abroad During an Election Year

One of the more interesting aspects of being a Peace Corps Volunteer is when it happens to be during a presidential election year. Most Armenians know very little of the intricacies of an American presidential election and the process. As a guest in their country it’s always a learning experience to see how they perceive the US political system and our candidates. As a Peace Corps Volunteer and a US citizen in a former Soviet state that is slowly transitioning to democracy I feel that I have to stress the importance of voting and having smooth and transparent process even though most Armenians feel there is too much corruption and that positive change is too far out of reach in their country.

Since my undergraduate studies was in Political Science I find it fascinating that a large minority of people here still have a desire to have things back the way things were during the Soviet era. I noticed this attitude a lot during my service in Romania too that shared a similar history like Armenia and many of the older generation there also wished a return of the Soviet glory days. It makes my political science mind think that people will go along with any political ideology as long as they are fed and have housing. As an American abroad I feel a duty to clarify the US political system to those who have strong feelings towards it and act as a bridge to those who want to learn more about it.

This election cycle was down to the Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican Party nominee Donald Trump. I have to admit that I wasn’t really a fan of either nominee. Hillary Clinton represented the establishment and Donald Trump has never held public office and behaves poorly. Although I was a little surprised with results of the election I can’t say I was shocked since it’s very rare that the party that’s been in office for 8 years gets another go. This has only happened twice in US history with the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Reagan/Bush administrations. The only thing that really disappointed me as an American citizen living abroad with this presidential election was the poor voter turnout. As a country that prides itself on democracy and the foundation of the “rule by the many” I find it disturbing that only above 55% of the electorate decided to participate. I find it hypocritical for us to promote democracy abroad when it’s poorly practiced at home.

As an exercise in some of my English clubs I’ve asked my students what they thought of the election outcome and they were kind of surprised by it. Armenians in general don’t have a preference towards Republican or Democratic presidents. The only real X factor in whether an Armenian citizen supports a US President is whether or not they will support the recognition of the early 20th century Armenian genocide by the neighboring Turks. For example, candidate Obama supported the recognition and was well supported by the Armenian public. However, President Obama was not able to recognize the genocide due to Americans requiring Turkish airspace for operations in Iraq. To recognize that under an Erdogan administration would have disastrous consequences. Liberal or conservative positions are irrelevant but the recognition of the Armenian genocide is.

Anyways, there won’t be an election for another 4 years but I’m sure there will be plenty to talk about until then.