Not only will the 47th US President lead their own country, they will also have the unofficial title as the “leader of the free world”.
Broadly speaking it implies the American President, as Commander in Chief of the most powerful nation on the planet, provides direction to the foreign policies of democratic states.
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine still raging on and the Middle East crisis threatening to erupt into a full-blown regional war, the world is at its most precarious state in a generation.
So where do Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on the key foreign policy issues of our times?
Will the Democrat candidate, who is battling to become the first female US president in history, be able to stand up to Vladimir Putin.
And how will Republican Trump handle the powder-keg situation between Israel and Iran, not to mention his views on NATO.
Here we take a look at both candidates’ views on key foreign policy issues.
Global alliances
Kamala Harris’s approach to foreign policy sticks closely to that of current US President Joe Biden. There is a strong emphasis on maintaining the US’s global alliances, especially with NATO.
Isolationist Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the world was a more peaceful place when he was in power.
He has long been a sceptic of NATO, having once said he would “encourage” Russia to invade a member country if it wasn’t paying enough.
Trump has not ruled out withdrawing from Nato, and even suggested he might step back from other alliances.
Russia-Ukraine
Again, Harris has fully aligned herself with the Biden administration’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.
She has pledged unflinching support for Kyiv and has repeatedly attacked Vladimir Putin’s “brutality”.
With many of his supporters opposed to continuing the flow of US aid to Ukraine, Trump has vowed to “fundamentally re-evaluate” the country’s approach.
The former President has boasted that he will end the three-year war on his first day in office.
And of course there is the “special relationship” between Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Let’s not forget that US intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia had helped sway the election against Hillary Clinton through a campaign of state-backed cyber hacks and fake news stories.
Middle East crisis
Harris has been broadly supportive of the current administration’s approach to Israel’s widening war, which began in Gaza and now includes Lebanon, Yemen and Iran.
She has called for a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023.
The Democrat candidate has said the US will always defend Israel’s right to defend itself.
But she has been more vocal than Biden in expressing empathy for the more than 41,000 Palestinians killed during the conflict that has deeply divided her party.
She supports a two-state solution, with an independent Palestinian state.
Trump has long cast himself as a champion of Israel, although he has been critical of its tactics and has tangled with its leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Republican has advocated for an aggressive response to pro-Palestinian protests in America, suggesting he would strip foreign students of their visas if they express antisemitic or anti-American sentiment.
China
Harris has signalled a continuation of Biden’s tough-on-China approach and has said she would honour the US’s commitments to Taiwan.
Trump has said he would take an even stronger stand against China if elected for the second time.
