Why the world is watching: the race for the White House always generates interest overseas, but this year's campaign has people all over the globe paying extra close attention.

• Author: Cowell, Alan
• Position: Cover story

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From Berlin to Tokyo to Mexico City, the U.S. presidential election is making headlines. In fact, the ups and downs of the Democratic and Republican contenders are generating so much interest overseas that you might think that foreigners get to vote.

They don't, of course, but the outcome of any U.S. presidential election--and this one in particular--matters everywhere. The U.S. is the world's sole superpower, and has the largest economy and most pervasive media and culture: What America says and does--from the conduct of the fight against Islamic terrorism to the way it deals with climate change--reverberates around the world.

But a significant factor in the heightened interest this year is the contenders themselves. (And with both the Republican and Democratic nominations up for grabs, there have been plenty of contenders to go around.)

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The Democratic contest, in particular, has grabbed attention: The possibility of Senator Barack Obama or Senator Hillary Clinton as the first black or female President fascinates outsiders as much as it does Americans. And the fact that Obama's father was Kenyan has been a source of pride in Africa.

The unprecedented availability of election news from virtually anywhere on the planet is also playing a role. Thanks to the Internet and 24-hour satellite and cable channels like CNN and Fox News, people from Jakarta to Jerusalem can follow the play-by-play as easily as someone in Boston.

But as the world follows the campaign, it seems as if outsiders are pining for change in America as much as the candidates in both parties are promising it.

President George W. Bush is unpopular in much of the world. And a number of events in recent years--like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the detention of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba--have tarnished America's image around the world.

"The world at large has a massive stake in the outcome of the elections," says Thomas Valasek of the Center for European Reform in London. "Never before has the U.S. had such a terrible reputation, a terrible image."

WHAT WILL CHANGE?

In addition, the world has real questions about what will change, and what won't, when there's someone new in the Oval Office.

Among the questions: What will happen in Iraq after January? Will the U.S. stay, pull out, or something in between? Will the next occupant of the White House conduct the fight against terrorism in a different way than...