After Trump’s Conviction, a Wary World Waits for the Fallout

The world does not vote in American presidential elections. Nor do its jurors play a part in the American judicial system. Nevertheless, the conviction of Donald J. Trump on all 34 felony counts in a hush-money trial in a New York court on Thursday has again made clear how consequential what happens in the United States is for the rest of the planet.

Many America-watchers are grappling with the same questions posed by people in the United States: Can Mr. Trump still run for president? (Yes.) And if so, will the guilty verdicts cut into the support from his political base? (Unclear.)

Foreign observers also began wondering whether Mr. Trump, already a volatile force, would become even less likely to stay within the guardrails of normal politics if he won the presidency again in November.

“As a non-American, as a Thai, I can say this trial of a former American president has been dramatic theater, a curious spectacle,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, the director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

“But we also understand that we may be facing another Trump presidency in which he shakes up the regional security balance, threatens a trade war with China, pledges to impose tariffs on a wide range of goods and generally acts in a very stormy and belligerent way,” Mr. Thitinan added.

The convictions by a Manhattan jury come as the question of American engagement has become central in several global crises.