WORLD VIEW
Fareed Zakaria
Mccain Vs. Mccain
He seems to think he can magically unite the two main strands in the foreign-policy establishment. He can't.
Amid the din of the dueling democrats, people seem to have forgotten about that other guy in the presidential race—you know, John McCain. McCain is said to be benefiting from this politically because his rivals are tearing each other apart. In fact, few people are paying much attention to what the Republican nominee is saying, or subjecting it to any serious scrutiny.
On March 26, McCain gave a speech on foreign policy in Los Angeles that was billed as his most comprehensive statement on the subject. It contained within it the most radical idea put forward by a major candidate for the presidency in 25 years. Yet almost no one noticed.
In his speech McCain proposed that the United States expel Russia from the G8, the group of advanced industrial countries. Moscow was included in this body in the 1990s to recognize and reward it for peacefully ending the cold war on Western terms, dismantling the Soviet empire and withdrawing from large chunks of the old Russian Empire as well. McCain also proposed that the United States should expand the G8 by taking in India and Brazil—but pointedly excluded China from the councils of power.
We have spent months debating Barack Obama's suggestion that he might, under some circumstances, meet with Iranians and Venezuelans. It is a sign of what is wrong with the foreign-policy debate that this idea is treated as a revolution in U.S. policy while McCain's proposal has barely registered. What McCain has announced is momentous—that the United States should adopt a policy of active exclusion and hostility toward two major global powers. It would reverse a decades-old bipartisan American policy of integrating these two countries into the global order, a policy that began under Richard Nixon (with Beijing) and continued under Ronald Reagan (with Moscow). It is a policy that would alienate many countries in Europe and Asia who would see it as an attempt by Washington to begin a new cold war.
I write this with sadness because I greatly admire John McCain, a man of intelligence, honor and enormous personal and political courage. I also agree with much of what else he said in that speech in Los Angeles. But in recent years, McCain has turned into a foreign-policy schizophrenic, alternating between neoconservative posturing and realist common sense. His speech reads like it was written by two very different people, each one given an allotment of a few paragraphs on every topic.
The neoconservative vision within the speech is essentially an affirmation of ideology. Not only does it declare war on Russia and China, it places the United States in active opposition to all nondemocracies. It proposes a League of Democracies, which would presumably play the role that the United Nations now does, except that all nondemocracies would be cast outside the pale. The approach lacks any strategic framework. What would be the gain from so alienating two great powers? How would the League of Democracies fight terrorism while excluding countries like Jordan, Morocco, Egypt and Singapore? What would be the gain to the average American to lessen our influence with Saudi Arabia, the central banker of oil, in a world in which we are still crucially dependent on that energy source?
- 1
- 2
- Next Page »
Loading Menu
Member Comments
Posted By: The_epoch_point @ 05/12/2008 11:09:06 PM
Comment: Comment: I worked on John McCain's 2000 campaign and he inspired me to join the air force and serve my country. McCain has the foreign policy experience to lead this country through the difficult times ahead. Now check out my book at Amazon.com
The Epoch Point by Spencer Zimmerman is a religious historical conspiracy thriller that follows evil throughout the existence of mankind, revealing the constant conflict between God and the devil, good and evil. Robert Davis is a young Airman fresh out of Air Force basic training who, after being held captive in China, suddenly finds himself unraveling the most immense conspiracy in history. On duty during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he soon uncovers hidden facts suggesting Russian and Iraqi involvement. While exploring abandoned military barracks at Kessler AFB in Mississippi, Davis and his friends discover the diary of Lee Harvey Oswald. Suddenly the Airmen find themselves the target of mysterious agents. As the clues surface, an evil emerges powerful enough to rewrite the entire history of humanity, not to mention kill two of his good friends. Before long the conspiracy takes on a supernatural form, marked by lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, and volcanoes, the wrath of God. Davis finds himself torn by the unbelievable realization that God has a message for him. Nothing could prepare him for the final suspenseful twist the story takes, a Da Vinci style revelation that reaffirms his belief in Christ.
Posted By: powin @ 05/12/2008 2:41:33 PM
Comment: Jack3213 WROTE: "WHO [EVER] FAVORS INTELLIGENCE, CREDIBILITY, AND EXPERIANCE? --THOSE WHO FAVOR MCCAIN.... FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE THINGS WILL "CHANGE" --DAY ONE-- IF A DEMOCRAT WERE ELECTED SHOULD KNOW THAT WITH A DEMOCRAT DAY ONE MIGHT CHANGE SOMETHING AND THAT SOMETHING IS: HIGHER TAXES, GREATER SECURITY RISK, UNACCEPTABLE HEALTH INSURANCE, AND A WEAKER ECONOMY"
Dear Jack3213,
It's obvious that Change in the economy, health care coverage, homeland security and the tax code will not happen on day one. That's indisputable. What is also indisputable is that Senator McCain is intelligent and experienced; he is, and so are his democratic opponents, Senators Clinton and Obama, alike. The credibility of anyone running for office, however, including John McCain, is speculative, at best. If a democrat is elected (and Senator McCain is not allowed to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor), your drawn conclusion that a weaker economy will follow is rash and reflects your own insecurity. No economist, Milton Friedman, included, can augur or foretell this from an election. That nearly 50 million Americans have no health care coverage is already unacceptable. Voters are not privy to Homeland Security, so your prediction, on that matter is weak and of little or no practical value. Any drawn conclusions, humble or immodest, are burdened by misanthropic musings and made obscured by character assassination
Posted By: powin @ 05/12/2008 2:41:18 PM
Comment: Again, Senator McCain, is caught between compromising sense and sensibilty to win over hardliners who haven't a clue how a policy of exclusion would affect our standing globally and our economy here.