Are America’s Ears Burning?

France

Like it or not, America has become more conservative, more religious, more unilateralist, and the Republicans were just as active as the Democrats in this campaign.... America remains divided in two.

-- Le Monde

Israel

Israelis should understand very well what happened in the United States on Nov. 2, 2004. After all, this is exactly what happened here on June 30, 1996. When on the morning after the elections for prime minister, in which Benjamin Netanyahu defeated Shimon Peres, Israel split into two nations.

-- Haaretz

Middle East

Many Iraqis, like most Arabs, are worried that another four years of Bush would bring more violence to a country that has borne the consequences of his administration’s policy of preemptive strikes.

-- Al Jazeera.com

Australia

The people of Fallouja, Iraq, can expect to be the first in the Greater Middle East to whom a reaffirmed president reaches out -- and it will be with guns and bombs.

-- Sydney Morning Herald

The Bush victory is a stunning vindication by the American people of their government and its conduct of the war on terror. It must also be read as a statement of grim determination by the American people that they will see the job through in Iraq.

-- The Australian

India

With the U.S. calling for another Bush term, America watchers [here] felt the comfort of status quo. In the last four years, India has felt the heat of Bush fires and, all in all, rather liked the feel of it. -- Times of India

Bangalore rejoice. Outsourcing is here to stay. Some 3.5 million IT jobs may shift to India five years from now. -- Economic Times

Finland

It is unlikely that Bush’s victory would mean new attacks against the “axis of evil,” as Iraq will remain something of a nightmare for him during his second term.

-- Turun Sanomat

Jordan

Bush and the team he chooses to serve in his Cabinet have an opportunity to take a long, hard look at where [their] policies have failed and why. They have much damage to undo, starting with the disregard with which so many in the international community have come to look at the U.S.

-- Jordan Times

Britain

George W. Bush is not hated here and in Europe because he removed a genocidal tyrant in Iraq and failed to anticipate the chaos that followed. He is hated because he is the embodiment of everything that the United States is, and Europe is not.

-- Daily Telegraph

Ireland

Bush is the real America. Liberal Europeans have to face the fact that America has chosen, freely and fairly, to present itself to the world as an aggressive ... neo-imperial power that doesn’t much care what anyone else thinks. The rogue superpower that we have seen in action over the last four years is where Americans want to live. -- Irish Times

Russia

[2004] was the year of the great American divide, with the country split along many political, economic, cultural and ethnic fault lines. But more important than 21st century American schism is that during the Bush-Kerry campaigns, young people in their late teens and 20s were involved in national politics for the first time. It was the young generation’s political coming-out party.

-- Moscow Times

Norway

Sen. John Kerry did not have a snowball’s chance in hell to win the election, and it is clear the Democrats can forget about moving into the White House in the foreseeable future, unless they find another candidate who can communicate directly with God and his people on Earth, like President Bush.

-- Dagbladet

Lebanon

The U.S. can succeed in its diplomatic goals if it puts the same energy into promoting the rule of law around the world as it puts into fighting terrorism.... The rule of law is not a nifty, self-contained, off-the-shelf democratic plan that the U.S. can impose on Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan or any other land. It is a single, consistent set of values that applies to all countries, including the United States and Israel in their treatment of the Palestinians and others in this region.

-- Daily Star

Let’s go to the shelters. It’s Bush.

-- As-Safir

Portugal

According to a genealogical archive on the Internet, both candidates for the U.S. presidency, which was won this week by George W. Bush, are descendants of Portuguese royalty. Even more intriguing is that they both share the same forefather.

-- Portugal News

Philippines

The reelection of President Bush was received with mixed reaction in Asia. Reflecting uncertainty over the effect ... on Philippine-U.S. relations, President [Gloria] Macapagal Arroyo congratulated Bush for his fresh mandate in less than effusive terms.... -- Philippine Daily Inquirer

Compiled by Sarah Grausz