US election 2016

Round-table discussion about the US presidential election with Zoltán Kiszelly, political analyst and Csaba Káncz, foreign policy analyst. Moderated by Debóra Kovács. Organised by Kodolányi János University in cooperation with ICRP. The topics of the talk were concentrated on the election process, candidates, demographics profile of voters, donors, debates, political programmes, foreign relations and possible outcomes.

Photos: https://www.facebook.com/culturalrelations/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1316576621740017

Summary: The Institute for Cultural Relations Policy continued its partnership with Kodolány János University and organised a roundtable discussion with political scientists Csaba Káncz and Zoltán Kiszelly. The talk was about the presidential election in the United States of America and how the candidates would affect the future political life of the USA. The talk was held with the format of question-answer and in the end of the talk the guests were welcomed to ask their questions. The night was opened by András Lőrincz, founder of the ICRP, and thereafter moderated by Debóra Kovács, intern of the ICRP.
During the first part of the talk the speakers discussed the differences and similarities of the election process, and the method of finding sponsors and supporters for each parties and candidates. This was followed by the question about the electoral layers which both the two candidates – Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton – want to reach out.
The two experts both agreed that the people whom Trump is counting on are entirely different societal groups from the ones where Clinton wants her votes from. No doubt that they represent two completely different foreign policy strategies. One of the key issues will be the relationship with China, if it remains a partnership. Clinton is going to follow a path against Putin, which means she will oppose Russian foreign actions in many cases, unlike Trump, who wants a compromise with the Eurasian great power.
Furthermore Csaba Káncz said he thinks there could be a partnership developed between Hungary and the USA as well since Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has a good relationship with Putin. After this statement, Kiszelly agreed and added that if Viktor Orbán s going to visit the White House in 2017, it should be because of “the possibility of buying American weapons and to sign an agreement, that way Hungary would not depend on Russia that much” – as it was suggested by George Friedman when he visited Hungary.
In the remaining time, the moderator asked the two speakers, how the presidential debates went, and if was it that obvious that Hillary Clinton won these debates. The experts said Clinton had an advantage because of her past as a first lady. She had more experience in these since she was very active back in those days as well than Donald Trump, who we did not know much about it before the elections.
To close the roundtable discussion, the audience listened to the personal opinions on the outcome of the United States presidential election. Káncz and Kiszelly both said that the press is expecting Hillary Clinton’s win, however neither of them would be so sure about that.

Debóra Kovács