Donald Trump’s rise sparks concern across world

Following Donald Trump’s string of Super Tuesday victories, politicians, editorial writers and ordinary people worldwide were coming to grips on Wednesday with the growing possibility that the brash New York billionaire might become America’s next President — a thought that aroused widespread befuddlement and a good deal of horror.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier this week spoke about the “politics of fear” in the US campaign in a thinly-veiled reference to Mr Trump and drew parallels to the rise of European demagogues.

“In Germany and in Europe, something is gaining momentum in our domestic politics. And to be honest, I am also seeing it here in the United States during the campaign: it’s the politics of fear,” he told university students during a visit to Washington.

German business daily Handelsblatt wrote in a commentary for its Thursday edition: “The Trump candidacy has opened the door to madness: for the unthinkable to happen, a bad joke to become reality. What looked grotesque must now be discussed seriously.”

There was also glee from some Russian commentators at how American politics is being turned topsy-turvy in 2016. And in Latin America, Ecuador’s Presi-dent predicted a Trump win could boomerang and become a blessing to the continent’s left.

However, the dominant reaction overseas to the effective collapse of the Republican party establishment in the face of the Trump juggernaut appeared to be jaw-dropping astonishment, mixed with dread at what may lie ahead.

“The meteoric rise of the New York magnate has left half the planet dumbfounded,” wrote columnist Andrea Rizzi in Spain’s leading newspaper, El Pais.

Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israeli relations at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, said the best word to describe Israeli feelings about Mr Trump is “confusion.”

There are certain parts of him that Israelis can relate to, such as his aversion to political correctness, his tough stance on Islamic terrorism and his call for a wall with Mexico to provide security, Mr Gilboa said.

But others have been particularly jarring to Israelis, such as comments about Jews that many consider insensitive and his derision of US Senator John McCain’s captivity in Vietnam.

“This is something that every Israeli would reject. It’s a highly sensitive issue in a country where prisoners of war are heroes and people go out of their way to release them,” he said.

The Chinese may not be taking his comments too seriously because they believe he won’t be elected or that he’d modulate his positions once elected, said Xiong Zhiyong, international relations expert at China Foreign Affairs University.

“If, hypothetically, Trump became the US President and he held on to his stance and proposals made during the election, China-US relations would be in big trouble in many aspects such as security and economics,” he said.

Thuraya Ebrahim al Arrayed, a member of Saudi Arabia’s top advisory body, the Shura Council, said a Trump presidency would be “catastrophic” and set the world back “not just generations, but centuries”.

“We pray to God that a racist, politically incorrect personality does not win the election,” she said.