According to the latest report, the GOP is using Obama to boost all Republican candidates in Mississippi and Louisiana.They are pandering to fear, ignorance, bigotry, and racism. I suppose next they'll be burning crosses. How is McCain addressing this problem? The failure of McCain and the GOP to address the bigotry and racism within their own party dooms all of Robert Kagan's proposals. I should remind everyone that most of the world looks a lot more like Barack Obama than John McCain. By rubber-stamping racism, the GOP will mae this country the most hated nation on the face of the earth. That's one BIG reason to vote for Obama
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One of the ideas McCain offered in his foreign policy speech was the creation of a new international institution called the League of Democracies. What would that look like?
There are international institutions that gather together all the rich nations, there are groups of poor nations, there's an Islamic Conference. The one thing there doesn't seem to be is a group of democracies, getting together to discuss the issues of the day. I think that's something that's lacking in the present system, and one that could possibly do some good.
Would it be a counterweight to the United Nations, or reduce the U.N.'s influence?
I don't see it as a substitute for the U.N. It complements the U.N. There may be instances—whether it's something like Darfur or Burma—when the U.N. Security Council is unable to act because of the divisions between the autocracies and the democracies, and when a group of democracies might be able to take some action and might even receive the kind of sanction from the U.N. secretary-general that ultimately the Kosovo operation got.
That sounds similar to the idea of the "Responsibility to Protect," which calls on other countries to intervene when a country abuses its own citizens. Is that the kind of thing this institution might advance?
The Responsibility to Protect is an area where the democracies are substantially in agreement and the autocracies are substantially in opposition, for obvious reasons. The Kosovo operation was regarded very negatively in Moscow and Beijing precisely because they don't want the international system to legitimize getting between a ruler and his people. We see this clash occurring in a place like Zimbabwe, Darfur and elsewhere. I think democracies are in fundamental agreement on this, and I think it would be better if they could find some way to pursue ideas like Responsibility to Protect, even if the autocracies insist on opposing it.
Leaving aside Iraq, what are the differences between the foreign policy platforms of the two parties right now?
They're probably not as great as a lot of people would like to pretend. Is American power something that can be used for good? I think that all the leading candidates believe the answer to that is yes. Is it necessary for the U.S. to remain strong? Every candidate is calling for increases in American military capabilities.
Do you see the divide between the United States and Europe narrowing? Is there more unity now that the West is being challenged by both autocracies and Islamic terrorism?
The divide I described was a difference of world view when it comes to how and when to use military force. I don't think that's likely to change dramatically. The question is, given those differences, how well can we get along. The United States needs to not only listen to its allies but be willing to be persuaded by its allies. The other end of the bargain is that the allies need to not avert their eyes from potential problems, which they would sometimes rather not face up to. If we see the return of great power competition, that might draw the United States and Europe closer together—especially if the United States makes itself what John McCain has called a good international citizen. That has to do with behavior on a whole range of issues, from climate change to nuclear weapons to questions like how to deal with detainees. Good international citizenship is important.
Kagan and other foreign policy leaders are converging on May 1 and 2 at the Global Leadership Forum (GLF), a conference hosted by NEWSWEEK along with the Royal United Services Institute and Princeton's Project on National Security. The GLF will examine the most pressing global challenges against the backdrop of the coming U.S. elections. Visit Princeton's GLF blog to read the thoughts of U.S. and European thinkers and officials on the most pressing issues of our day: climate change, global finance, the dynamics of the Middle East, weapons proliferation, global health and transatlantic relations.
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