When the world speaks, we need to listen.

In 50 days, the people of the United States will vote for their next president. And as it stands right now, they could easily re-elect the incumbent.

President Bush enjoyed a decent bounce after the Republican National Convention, and though the latest Newsweek poll shows Sen. John Kerry closing the gap (43 percent of the vote versus 49 percent for Bush), it looks as if the GOP has a pretty good shot at four more years.

Apparently, the United States didn’t get the latest memo. The world is standing firmly behind John Kerry.

According to a study for the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, 30 of 35 countries polled said they wanted to see Kerry elected over Bush. The poll itself was conducted via phone interview, and 34,330 people around the world responded.

A whopping three countries preferred Bush: the Philippines, Nigeria and Poland. Respondents from India and Thailand were split. Kerry’s popularity was highest in Norway and Germany, with 74 percent of both countries favoring him. Globally, only one in five individuals told the pollsters they want Bush to be re-elected.

While I personally am not surprised to find that Kerry is more respected worldwide, I am a little shocked by the level of disapproval toward Bush. Even our allies – such as Great Britain, Mexico and Japan – favored Kerry over Bush.

In the case of countries that sent their troops to Iraq to fight alongside the United States, 10 of 12 nations said they wanted Kerry to defeat Bush this fall. I find those results particularly interesting.

I can predict the reaction of many U.S. citizens to these numbers: “Who cares? These people don’t live in the United States, so why do they matter?”

Well, they do matter, whether you like it or not. Let us not forget we are a nation of immigrants. “These people” are your distant relatives, the descendants of your ancestors. You only are here because your part of the family line and not theirs happened to make it to the United States and start their new lives here.

You are here on account of fate, and never forget that. Your “roots” aren’t just in Chicago, or southern Illinois, or some other geographic section of the United States. If you stop for a second and look back far enough, you are a part of these countries now speaking out for new leadership. You can roll your eyes at them all you want and claim you were “born in the United States, damn it,” but these people are you, and you are them. The least you can do is consider what they are saying.

Furthermore, we shouldn’t forget the United States cannot simply “go it alone” forever. We rely on the support of other nations for economic prosperity and national security. Do you remember countries such as Japan and Great Britain, who stood behind the United States during the Iraq conflict and risked the lives of their own soldiers?

Now these nations, who have done more to protect our country than many of our own citizens, have spoken. They believe it is time for new leadership in the United States. Although they aren’t citizens of the United States, it completely is inappropriate to disregard their views when they have sacrificed so much for our sake.

Truthfully, I am sick of alienating our allies. I remember a time when the United States was more respected, and to be quite honest, I’m longing for it. Yes, the United States electorate has the final say in who is elected president, but that freedom carries a responsibility to those abroad.

In 2000, we elected a man who we thought would maintain our respected status in the international community. As the study indicates, the people of the world believe he has failed to do so. It is now our responsibility to keep their voices in mind when we go to the polls.

Jon Monteith is a sophomore in LAS. His column runs Tuesdays. He can be reached at [email protected].