When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, the world reacted by tuning into CNN—including the Iraqi leadership. It was the only global 24-hour satellite news network and it broadcast Operation Desert Storm live to the world. For the first time, people on every continent watched a war unfold in real-time together.

The 2024 US election is another major milestone for globalization. Here in Canada, we are already following the campaign like it was our own. The same goes for Europe, much of Asia, and even Africa. We non-Americans can’t vote, but we are much more than spectators. This election is about the future of the geopolitical order, making the outcome crucial for all of us.

The Signs are Everywhere

Before globalization, national elections usually focused on issues within a country’s borders or perhaps across a region. Domestic and international affairs were opposite poles, and campaigns tended to avoid foreign affairs. That trend is changing.

For Canadians, this started with the 1988 Free Trade Election. The debate over how integration would impact our sovereignty was difficult and divisive. Today, most of us see participation in the global economy as essential to our prosperity. Nor do we see interdependence as limited to trade and the economy. 

Other kinds of issues also contribute to our shifting viewpoint. Climate change, for instance, is a powerful force for interdependence. While footdraggers abound, true climate-change deniers are an endangered species. Everyone recognizes that this is a global issue whose solution requires a global effort.

The COVID-19 pandemic put our interconnectedness in bold relief. The eerie images of Manhattan streets silent at rush hour, people singing in solidarity from their balconies in Italy, and police brutally enforcing zero tolerance in the condo cities of China – all were shared moments in a shared global experience. Emerging from the lockdowns, our view of the world felt fundamentally changed.

While the global economy, climate change, and the pandemic are conspicuous examples of our growing interdependence, the signs are everywhere: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens international security; waves of immigration challenge established values; and social media sites flood the planet with memes. In a generation, a massive and irreversible surge of interdependence has transformed our societies – which brings us back to the US election.

Making America First in a Global Political Ecosystem

“America First” is a cry to halt the spread of interdependence. Globalization has overturned economies and uprooted communities. For many, the price has been high and the rewards precarious. People feel they have lost control over their institutions and their future.

The impulse to withdraw and regroup is understandable. We saw it with Brexit, and it underlies the West’s growing tensions with China. But regrouping does not mean opting out. Countries cannot just withdraw from the international community and become an island. We’re all part of a new and emerging political, social, and economic ecosystem where changes to one part affect the others.

Not that the world is becoming a single global entity. The nation-state is not about to disappear, but efforts to reestablish 20th-century models of governance and social organization deny the obvious. These institutions were designed for a different era. They are like old buildings with drafty hallways, leaky ceilings, and crumbling foundations. The challenge is not to restore them but to modernize them. This starts with reflection and debate about their mission and their roles.

Americans will address such questions in this election: How will they participate in the global ecosystem economically and militarily? How will they govern themselves in the future? What will they do to ensure democracy and the Rule of Law?

The Role of AI in Modernizing Institutions

But redefining the mission and roles of these institutions is not enough. Refurbishing the nation-state also requires new tools that can carry out the mission. So far, the campaign has had very little to say on this, specifically on how governments can use the world’s rapidly evolving digital infrastructure—especially artificial intelligence (AI)—to help them redesign and rebuild public institutions.

For example, AI tools can leverage large data sets to predict economic trends, match resources with needs, and identify bottlenecks in systems. In public health, these capabilities can reduce wait times, diagnose individual illnesses, monitor public health trends, and accelerate and deepen research, all while aligning national and global goals.

In governance, AI can support complex planning and decision-making by providing leaders with deeper insights into societal needs and trends, along with highly reliable information on the impact of their policies. AI can also foster greater citizen engagement through platforms that allow for more direct and continuous interaction with government bodies.

In sum, a new generation of digital tools is emerging that is well-suited to the highly interdependent, global ecosystem emerging around us. We could use them to monitor, address, and balance domestic and international pressures. By comparison, the tools of the old nation-state are like hand tools against power tools. This is a new chapter in the globalization story, and it needs to be told.

Looking Ahead

Whatever one feels about US “leadership” in this new interdependent world, America’s presence—economically, culturally, militarily—is a massive force that helps shape and hopefully stabilize the system. The new data management and AI tools coming online will change how geopolitics works, as did CNN’s global network. Nothing assures that this will be for good rather than ill, to enhance personal freedom rather than to limit it. These are the real stakes in this election.

As the world watches this election unfold, we are all conscious that its impact will reach far beyond America’s borders. The results will shape the global trajectory for years. Next week’s column will examine two emerging AI tools crucial for the transformation ahead. The future of our interconnected world hinges not only on what Americans decide but on how countries around the globe leverage these technologies to build more resilient and adaptive institutions.

Don Lenihan PhD is an expert in public engagement with a long-standing focus on how digital technologies are transforming societies, governments, and governance. This column appears weekly.