Quadriga

The Republican National Convention marks the real start of the US election, and it promises to be a tough fight. Two months before they head for the polling stations, Americans are sharply divided on who they think should occupy the White House for the next four years - incumbent Barack Obama or challenger Mitt Romney.

Does the choice of vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan mean Mitt Romney slipping into an ultra-conservative stance? Can he provide a real alternative to Barack Obama, who for many voters has lost his charm? Which of the two would be more effective at getting the gigantic federal deficit under control? 

Obama clearly inspires more trust in the area of foreign policy than his less experienced opponent, who seemed awkward on a recent trip to Europe. But despite the rhetorical fireworks being set off by both candidates, no one expects either of them to do work miracles in foreign affairs in the face of a huge mountain of US debt and a sinking budget for the military.

Obama didn't fulfil his promise to close the prison in Guantanamo, but he did manage to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, and has continued to take the fight to al-Qaida. It's been a rocky road at times for the incumbent with Iran and the Arab world.

At the end of the day, what do the two candidates really stand for? Is the "most powerful man in the world" a prisoner of his own administration? What would change if Romney took the reins? And when it comes to former policy, would both candidates take more or less the same approach?

What do you think? : Divisive Election – Which America Will Win?

Write to us at: Quadriga@dw.de

Our guests:

Jared Sonnicksen  – After completing his Bachelor of Arts at Wabash College in Indiana, Jared Sonnicksen moved to Germany in 2001. He studied at the University of Bonn as a Fulbright Scholar and received his MA in 2003. He has worked with the Centre for European Integration Studies and is now is a research and teaching assistant at the Institute for Political Science of the University of Bonn. He is working on a doctoral thesis on EU reform and the limits and possibilities of democratization.

Andrew B. Denison  – is a political scientist from the United States. He studied both there and in Germany, and is an expert in foreign policy and security issues. He works for the Institute for Strategic Analysis in Bonn, as a researcher and author. Denison is also director of  ”Transatlantic Networks”, a research consortium based in Königswinter, Germany. His main emphasis lies on international and domestic security policy focusing particularly on Obama and the USA’s second century, the relationship between US and European economic policies, the future of NATO, Moore’s Law and future security policy.

Dean Moyar – is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, with a specific focus on Kant and German Idealism, political philosophy, and ethics. Moyar received his education at Duke University and the University of Chicago, and was a visiting scholar at the Philosophisches Seminar at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster. His essays have appeared in, among others, The Journal of Moral Philosophy and Hegel-Studien.