The Foreign Service Journal, October 2016

32 OCTOBER 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL indications of actual fraud, the FPÖ cheered a win against “the system.” During the campaign, Hofer portrayed Van der Bellen as the candidate of the hautevolee (elite) and criticized his network of supporters from a variety of political parties, celebrities and members of the media. As you can see, the similarities are striking. What we are wit- nessing is not a question of traditional partisanship—right versus left, or liberal versus conservative. Rather, it is a growing cleavage between the political establishment and self-styled “outsiders.” These populist movements resonate with anxious, insecure and angry citizens, who feel disappointed by their politicians and have lost faith and trust in the political class and system. Mr. Hofer’s voters are not so different from those of Mr. Trump. Mostly white collar and male, they are often portrayed as globalisierungsverlierer (the losers of globalization). Traditional jobs are being outsourced or replaced by cheaper labor forces. The working class suffers from economic losses and feels threat- ened and marginalized by the new world order, thus increasingly turning to populist and nationalist beliefs, and against immi- grants, who they claim are taking their jobs and constitute an economic and cultural threat. Both in Austria and the United States, the presidential elections have been dominated by the migration crisis and recent terror- ist attacks. While the U.S. discussion about accepting only 10,000 Syrian refugees, and only after an 18- to 24-month background check, seems rather laughable to a country dealing with 90,000 asylum applications in 2015 (more than 1 percent of our popula- tion), the idea is the same on both sides of the Atlantic. Voters are choosing between the willkommenspolitik (the “welcome policy”) promoted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Alexander van der Bellen and (to some extent) Hillary Clinton—and the policy of exclusion, keeping immigrants out by building fences and walls, which has been promised to voters in Europe and in the United States by candidates like Donald Trump and Norbert Hofer. It is noteworthy that this phenomenon does not just affect the political right. The anti-globalization mood has deep roots in the left, as well: Witness the furor in your country over the Trans- Pacific Partnership (which Hillary Clinton initially supported, before pressure from her Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders forced her to repudiate it) and in Europe over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. In Austria, Van der Bellen’s Green Party is the most vocal opponent of TTIP, which led the professor of macroeconomics to alter his stance on free trade. In the United States, some Bernie Sanders supporters are so opposed to anyone other than Bernie and his stance on the TPP that they booed their own candidate for endorsing Mrs. Clinton. The Campaigns from the Outside As foreign journalists, whose reports are aired only in our home countries and have no viewership in the United States, our access to politicians and presidential campaigns is inherently dif- ficult and restricted. Even under the most favorable conditions, I would never land an interview with President Barack Obama or House Speaker Paul Ryan. But this year’s election cycle has been a particular drag for us foreigners. Mr. Trump’s skill at channeling the “America First” sentiment that is so prevalent in large parts of this country, paired with his anti-media rhetoric, leaves us viewing his campaign literally “from the outside.” I have not met any colleagues from abroad who have been granted credentials to cover one of the Trump campaign events. We are left with the material the big U.S. networks provide us, and supplement it by interviewing his supporters outside rallies and even purchasing tickets online to attend as public visitors. To be fair to the Trump campaign, we do not enjoy unre- stricted access to Hillary Clinton either. At her campaign kick-off on Roosevelt Island in New York last year, European TV outlets were granted one camera only to share for live shots, and some credentials were withdrawn on short notice. However, we do get access to events on a regular basis and are not actively locked out at Democratic campaign rallies. The Trump campaign does not reply to most media requests for access, and when we tried our luck in person at a Trump rally in Las Vegas, the campaign quickly denied us entry. They told us the press area was already too crowded; but the teenager next to us, who reported for his high school newspaper, was granted access. While it is something of an honor to share this situation with The Washington Post , it does underscore how little Trump and his team care about the rest of the world. I don’t mean to elicit compassion for my personal struggles for These populist movements resonate with anxious, insecure and angry citizens, who feel disappointed by their politicians and have lost faith and trust in the political class and system.