If every nation has a right to self-determination, does the rest of the world have a right to an opinion on that country’s election? Many people around the world have argued that in the case of the United States in particular, the rest of the world has a right to let US citizens know how they feel, and that US citizens have a responsibility to consider those feelings when casting their vote.        

The United States is without question the most dominant country on the world’s stage, and its every move has an impact on the rest of the world far greater than any other single country. This influence is felt on all levels of society - politics, economics, environment, military, culture and even religion.

The 2008 US election is has captured the attention of the rest of the world perhaps more than any previous election. Eight years of the George W Bush administration have taken the country - and the much of the rest of the world with it - into two ongoing wars, an energy crisis and an economic recession. Its foreign and internal policies have also contributed to the current world food crisis. Bush is arguably the most unpopular president in history, both within his own country and throughout the world.

The world waits with baited breath for the outcome of this election, but here at Global Votes you can let your voice be heard. Whether you live in the United States or elsewhere, you can cast your vote and express your opinions in our Debate section. This vote will be open until the real election on Tuesday 4 November.

For the purpose of this vote we are focusing on the two main presidential candidates, Senator John McCain (Republican - Arizona) and Senator Barack Obama (Democrat - Illinois). Even though there are other candidates, realistically only one of these two men will be President after the election. For more information on each candidate, click on their names.

The official US Government site offers a basic contrast of each candidate’s stance on nine major issues.        

The CNN site is also basic, covering 20 issues.

BBC News is basic on eight issues but has links to more detailed analysis on all of these issues except for climate change.

The New York Times has a more detailed contrast of 11 issues with many links to more information. On the economy it offers a more comprehensive analysis.

Truthout has a broad and clear examination of both candidates tax proposals, based on an incisive Washington Post chart.

The excellent Science Debate 2008 site compiled 3,400 questions from more than 38,000 scientists, engineers and other concerned citizens, and narrowed these down to 14 questions that were put to both candidates. Their answers are presented in a side by side comparison.

This presidential campaign has been noted by the Washington Post and the New York Times for a significant amount of outright lies being pushed by both candidates.        

Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s. He examines the impartiality of the major US news media at the independent Consortium News website.

Read the excellent introduction to the book ‘America Against the World - How We Are Different and Why We Are Disliked’ by Andrew Kohut and Bruce Stokes. It is not a work of speculation, relying principally on survey data collected by the Pew Global Attitudes Project.

Former Australian conservative prime minister Malcolm Fraser believes that America has lost its way in the world.

The religious right plays a strong role in US politics - unique for a western democracy. Truthout presents a five-part series on how the US founding fathers’ idea of separation between church and state morphed into ‘One nation under God’.