Asia Leans Republican
Interesting article from the New York Times that says that the three great powers of Asia: China, India, and Japan tend to view Bush much favorably than Europeans. This is because, for the most part, Bush's Asian policy has not been that bad. It looks at East Asia in a more classic "balance of power" way, which suits these powers more than a post national, European way (see Kissinger below on the European revolution).
To that, Asian nations are worried about the protectionist bent of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and are more favorable to the pro-free trade agenda espoused by Republicans generally, and McCain in particular.
How interesting, we may be mired in history and it seems so is Asia, arguably the most important region on earth. It seems only the Europeans with dreams of "Kantian Peace" are so enamored of escaping its clutches. Naturally, that is an exagerration, but there seems an element of truth. Again, go back to yet another powerful article by Robert Kagan from 2002 (that was turned into a book), Of Power and Weakness, where he had this to say:
"American and European perspectives are diverging. Europe is turning away from power, or to put it a little differently, it is moving beyond power into a self-contained world of laws and rules and transnational negotiation and cooperation. It is entering a post-historical paradise of peace and relative prosperity, the realization of Kant’s “Perpetual Peace.” The United States, meanwhile, remains mired in history, exercising power in the anarchic Hobbesian world where international laws and rules are unreliable and where true security and the defense and promotion of a liberal order still depend on the possession and use of military might."
This is not an all inclusive explanation for the Atlantic drift (and things have modified with new French and German leadership since then), but it seems to be very helpful in a general explanatory way.
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