The US President as Villain, Hero, and Coward

American voters are about to select their President. But presidential influence extends far beyond the borders of the United States.

The World’s Marco Werman is in London, speaking to people from across the planet about the US presidency and its effects on their lives.

Seen through the prisms of drone warfare, global public health, and climate change, American presidents are cast in dramatically different lights.

In Pakistan, many are angry over the American use of drones to target militants in the mountainous tribal areas.

They say innocent civilians are ‘terrorized’ by drone strikes.

But critics know there’s not likely to be a change in policy, whoever wins on Tuesday.

Marco Werman speaks with British-Pakistani musician Aki Nawaz, and Pakistani human rights lawyer Shahzad Akbar, about drone strikes and attitudes to US presidential power.

For many in sub-Saharan Africa, the work of US presidents is regarded as nothing less than life-saving.

A massive program to deliver HIV/AIDS medicine became a personal mission of President George W. Bush.

But some South Africans say the influence of the American president is waning in their lives. The World’s Anders Kelto reports on the changing status of the US President in South Africa. Read More>>

Elsewhere in Africa, others see echoes of American political gridlock in the experience of their own countries.

Scottish-Sierra Leonean writer, Aminatta Forna, talks with Marco Werman about African expectations of political leaders, at home and abroad.

For many around the globe, American presidents are failing to provide much-needed leadership on what’s arguably the singular challenge of our age: climate change.

Marco Werman speaks with British writer and environmental activist Gregory Norminton about presidential leadership and its continuing currency in the world.

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