My entire life I’ve heard Americans lecture everyone how superior the US is because of all their rights, freedoms and “real democracy”. The freest country in the world! Look at the constitution and the bill of rights - the most democratic country EVER! Where are those Americans now?
Soon we can translate all the GDR jokes and use them for the US.
Even if the system isn’t completely rigged by then, it’s been proven time and time again that the average voter has the attention span of a toddler on sugar. I’m afraid what happens now, three and a half years away from the elections, will have no influence on the elections.
I’d argue that the drop in conference and other professional visitors could be even steeper. There are still enough people who’ll privately take the risk or aren’t informed or think “I’ll be Ok if I comply with the laws”. Companies or universities however have HR departments and people in charge of travelling and compliance. They would risk a lot more money and possibly secrets if the devices are searched and employees are detained. I think they’ll be even more careful and restrict trips to the US. I could imagine a lot of conferences offering online participation and many opting for that rather than risking it.
And if enough international speakers can’t get in even more conferences will opt for moving the entire conference to a different country.