McCain's Brain Trust

In between serving in public office, Rodman told the House International Relations Committee in October 1998 that Clinton administration foreign policy was displaying what he called the "weaknesses of classical Wilsonianism", which included a "penchant for humanitarian interventions in the absence of a strong showing of U.S. national interest, that risks public disillusionment at home." He wrote in The National Interest in 2000 about the challenges of a unipolar world: "Whether our physical predominance translates into actual influence over events will depend on intangibles such as our political will and staying power, the credibility of our commitments, our perceived willingness or unwillingness to take risks and bear costs, our reputation for reliability and competence. All these depend on our performance over time. They could all be badly weakened by a major policy fiasco—such as a failed military intervention.

Energy Policy
McCain has identified a reformed U.S. energy policy as a national security imperative, in particular noting the dangers of relying on autocratic regimes for oil supplies. McCain has opposed positions favored by a number of Republicans, such as U.S. drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge and subsidies to bolster U.S. ethanol production. Here are McCain's top advisers on energy policy:

R. James Woolsey was CIA director from 1993 to 1995 and is now a vice president at consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton. In 2001, he served on CFR Independence Task Forces calling for sweeping reforms of the State Department and for improvements in U.S. public diplomacy efforts against terrorism.

Woolsey was a strong proponent of toppling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, saying his weapons of mass destruction programs and hatred of the United States made him a chief threat. In the weeks after 9/11, he pointed to likely ties between al-Qaeda and Iraq, including Saddam's courtship of Sunni Islamists and reports of Iraqi contacts with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Woolsey has focused increasingly in the past ten years on what he has called the "strategic vulnerabilities of the U.S. energy system" and the need for a new policy based on bolstering alternatives to fossil fuels. If such a policy were achieved, he wrote in a piece he coauthored with Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-IN) in the January/February 1999 issue of Foreign Affairs, "U.S. diplomacy and policies in the Middle East could be guided more by a respect for democracy than by a need to protect oil supplies and accommodate oil-producing regimes." Woolsey encourages what he calls a "portfolio of approaches" to supplanting oil's dominant role including strengthening fuel efficiency and providing incentives for making hybrid and other fuel-efficient cars.

Eric Burgeson heads the energy portfolio at Barbour Griffith and Rogers (BGR), a lobby firm in Washington, DC, that he joined in 2006. Burgeson took the lead of lobbying efforts on behalf of the Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency's national public awareness campaign illustrating the necessity of greater fuel efficiency in October 2007. Burgeson said in April 2008 that McCain plans to "confront" environmental challenges by implementing a cap-and-trade program to encourage a market-based approach to protect the economy and environment. Before joining BGR, Burgeson served as chief of staff to Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman, overseeing policy implementation and department management. He previously worked on policy development and cooperation between the White House and the Department of Energy (DOE) as special assistant to the president and senior policy adviser at the DOE.

The Economic Team
McCain has expressed strong support for expanding free trade agreements, stressing the importance of trade in building democracy and strengthening U.S. alliances from Asia to Latin America. In campaigning in states increasingly uneasy about the impact of trade and globalization, McCain's campaign has emphasized the need to boost U.S. competitiveness through a combination of education, retraining, and trade adjustment assistance. Here are McCain's top economic advisers: