Views From Across Chasm

If the rest of the world could have voted in the U.S. presidential election, it seems likely that the global map would have been dominated by Democratic blue, interspersed with islands of Republican red and expanses of ambivalent gray.

In Europe, the Arab world and Latin America, the prevailing emotions on the street were disappointment and dismay in the wake of President Bush’s victory declaration Wednesday. In Paris and other capitals, Bush has come to symbolize a side of America that is seen as dark, alien and hostile.

“There is a great and enduring lack of understanding between the American people and the rest of the world, in both directions,” said Hubert Vedrine, a French ex-foreign minister. “And there will be no doubt a kind of hangover for world opinion.”

But such opinions were by no means universal. In nations including Russia, China and Israel, the election results brought praise with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

Reaffirming his partnership with Bush, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin said he was “glad that the American people haven’t let themselves be intimidated by terrorists and have made a decision that was appropriate.”

Poland was one of four countries -- along with Israel, Nigeria and the Philippines -- out of 35 surveyed in which the public did not prefer Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry, according to Canada’s Globe Scan polling organization. Polish leaders cheered Bush’s victory, saying Democrats were too soft on foreign policy.

But in much of Western Europe, the presidential vote appeared to reinforce fears of a deepening cultural and ideological split between Americans and Europeans, a fracture in the transatlantic alliance that has lasted more than half a century. Many Western Europeans reject not just Bush’s policies in Iraq but his values regarding issues such as religion, abortion and the death penalty.

Instead of Samuel Huntington’s much-cited clash of civilizations pitting the “West against the rest,” this profound divergence could ultimately produce a conflict of “the West versus the West,” said Bernard-Henri Levy, a French intellectual who was in Boston for election night.

“Unfortunately this goes beyond banal politics,” added Levy, who described himself as pro-American and anti-Bush. “It has to do with Americans questioning their European roots....There’s a part of America that wants to cut the cord, put an end to its memory of European origins. That’s the line of division that begins to appear.”

The gut-level response was vehement even in countries whose governments remained strong U.S. allies. Romans in the bustling Piazza di Spagna predicted four years of global strife, war and terror. In a voter-leader divide typical of several nations whose governments back the Bush administration, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi celebrated his good friend’s good fortune, but everyday Italians said Americans had let them down.

“Americans did not wake up after four years of mental numbness, totalitarian years of a warmonger,” said Bruno Calo, an optician. “His decrepit foreign policies were absolute failures. It’s enough to look at ... the destabilization in the world he created. Choosing Kerry would have meant a better chance for the world. This vote confirms that the American population are bigots.”

Leaders of Germany and France, who irked the Bush administration by spearheading opposition to the Iraq war, tried to strike conciliatory notes. Although analysts said French President Jacques Chirac’s desire for change in the White House had been no secret, Chirac said Bush’s second term would offer a chance to “reaffirm Franco-American friendship.”

In contrast, die-hard critics such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban President Fidel Castro maintained silence after the U.S. election.

Despite antipathy over Iraq and other issues, many critics around the world have been known to assert that they were not anti-American, but anti-Bush. That distinction may begin to blur, observers said.

“What remains is a European anti-Bush mood which is pretty big and which, as I fear, could sometimes turn into an anti-American mood,” said Hans-Ulrich Klose, deputy chairman of a German parliamentary panel for foreign affairs. “America is not really beloved anymore; it is well respected by many, but mostly it is feared. And that is not an advantage for a cooperation.”

The Muslim world has deep misgivings. In the Turkish capital of Ankara, Ahmet Sahbaz, a retired police officer, expressed indignation among Turks about the occupation of Iraq. “How are we to endure another four years of Bush? How many more innocents must die in Palestine, in Iraq?” he said. “Allah must be testing our patience.”

Bush’s next foreign policy moves will be watched with foreboding, interest and, at least in the Gaza Strip, a tinge of hope.

Although Palestinian activists did not cheer the election results, they said Bush might have more freedom in a second term to advance his expressed goal of a Palestinian state.

“If there is any hope that America will change its position toward the Palestinian issue, then the hope is that Mr. Bush will make such a change because he is elected for the second time and he is not in need for more votes,” said Qassem Ali, a Palestinian analyst. “Bush is more capable of change than Kerry, but there is no indication that he will, and I do not expect that the Palestinian cause will be a central issue for Bush.”

In Cairo, political analyst Muhammed Sayid Saeed predicted “further depression” for much of the Arab world -- with the exception of Persian Gulf states that openly or passively supported the U.S.-led ousting of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

But opinions are mixed as to what the second Bush administration might do. Abdel Wahab Massiri, a prominent intellectual, expects Bush to pursue a “more pragmatic” version of the neoconservative ideology. This softer approach would include smoothing over hard feelings with the United Nations, France and Germany and persuading them to share the financial and military burden in Iraq.

But Saeed considered it equally likely that the election win would be taken as a mandate for Bush to further pursue a vision of forcing region-wide political change. He predicted that by next summer, the U.S. would be involved in a concerted effort to oust the Syrian government -- including cross-border raids from Iraq, political pressure and economic sanctions.

In Asia, Koreans were divided about the merits of Bush’s hard-nosed style in a potential confrontation with North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il. A North Korean defector said he thought Bush was likely to force change upon North Korea.

“He will impose more pressure on Kim Jong Il, and hopefully bring about change in the country or accelerate its fall,” said Kang Chol Hwan, 37, of the human rights group Democracy Network Against the North Korean Gulag. “I have more confidence in President Bush’s policies toward North Korea.”

In bedraggled Haiti, meanwhile, Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue stayed up all night watching U.S. election returns on satellite TV. “We are very pleased,” he said in a telephone interview, praising the Bush administration for its assistance after devastating floods in May and September. “It is primarily a decision for the American people, but we here in Haiti also have much to gain from it.”

Some who lamented the election’s outcome praised the civic energy that Americans poured into the campaign.

“Look, Bush’s voters are democratic,” said Levy, the French intellectual. “Bush is democratic, he is not a Taliban. And I was impressed by the mobilization, the long lines of voters waiting for hours in the cold, in the rain. This aspect was a great victory for American democracy, a great lesson in democracy.”

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Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Henry Chu in Rio de Janeiro; Maria de Cristofaro in Rome; John Daniszewski in London; Robyn Dixon in Johannesburg, South Africa; Ken Ellingwood in Jerusalem; Jeffrey Fleishman and Christian Retzlaff in Berlin; Ashraf Khalil in Cairo; Chris Kraul in Mexico City; Mark Magnier in Beijing; Jinna Park in Seoul; Achrene Sicakyuz in Paris; Sari Sudarsono in Jakarta, Indonesia; Hector Tobar in Buenos Aires and Carol J. Williams in Miami; and special correspondents Ela Kasprzycka in Warsaw, Cristina Mateo Yanguas in Madrid, Fayed abu Shammalah in Gaza City and Amberin Zaman in Ankara.