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Vol. 72/No. 15      April 14, 2008

 
McCain proposes shift
from Bush foreign policy
(feature article)
 
BY SAM MANUEL  
WASHINGTON—In a wide-ranging March 26 foreign policy speech, John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, outlined some areas in which his administration would differ from that of President George Bush. His speech reflected the view of sections of the U.S. ruling class who sense the need for a shift in foreign policy in order to more effectively defend their interests.

“I detest war,” said McCain, a third-generation Navy officer. “Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war,” he said.

The Arizona senator called for a “new global compact” with “democracies” in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa—a “League of Democracies … that can advance our values and defend our shared interests around the world.”

“We need to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies,” McCain said, in an implicit criticism of the Bush administration’s foreign policy. “When we believe international action is necessary…we will try to persuade our friends that we are right. But we, in return, must be willing to be persuaded by them.”  
 
Iraq and Afghanistan
McCain said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would remain pivotal in fighting what he called “radical Islamic extremism.” Answering his Democratic Party opponents who say al-Qaeda was not in Iraq before the war, McCain said, “Whether they were there before is immaterial, al-Qaeda is in Iraq now, as it is in the borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Somalia, and in Indonesia.”

He said a premature withdrawal from Iraq would allow al-Qaeda to declare victory and continue to promote sectarian violence among Sunnis and Shiites.

McCain cited the successes Washington has made on the ground in Iraq with the addition of 30,000 more troops sent there last year. The Arizona senator has ridden the success of the surge to become the leading Republican candidate.

He said his administration would use greater resources to prevent conflict. “Our goal must be to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the vast majority of moderate Muslims,” McCain said. “In this struggle, scholarships will be far more important than smart bombs.”  
 
Close Guantánamo prison
McCain called for closing the prison at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay.

“We can’t torture or treat inhumanely suspected terrorists we have captured,” said McCain, who has been a vocal critic of the Bush administration’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” a euphemism for torture.

In the Middle East, McCain said, Washington has depended on “autocrats” to provide order and stability. “We relied on the Shah of Iran, the autocratic rulers of Egypt, the generals of Pakistan, the Saudi royal family, and even, for a time, on Saddam Hussein,” he said. “We can no longer delude ourselves that relying on these outdated autocracies is the safest bet.”  
 
Nuclear non-proliferation
McCain said the U.S. government and its allies must work together to contain and reverse north Korea’s nuclear weapons program and to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But he also said the U.S. government should work to reduce nuclear arsenals all around the world, “starting with our own.”

“Dealing with a rising China will be a central challenge for the next American president,” McCain said. His administration would encourage China to be “more transparent about its significant military buildup,” to help isolate “pariah states such as Burma, Sudan, and Zimbabwe,” and cease efforts to “establish regional forums and economic arrangements designed to exclude America from Asia.”

McCain said his administration will be more active in Asia in alliance with Japan to counter China.

A strong European Union and NATO would be essential to counter Russia, which is trying to regain its old territories and status as a world power, McCain said. “We should start,” he said, “by ensuring that the G-8, the group of eight highly industrialized states, becomes again a club of leading market democracies: it should include Brazil and India but exclude Russia.”

It should also be made clear to Moscow, he said, that NATO’s door “remains open to all democracies committed to the defense of freedom.” Several former Soviet republics have been admitted into NATO over Moscow’s objection.

McCain called for a new “21st century” relationship between North and South America where “trade is free across all borders.”

His administration would continue to place an increased importance on relations with “friendly governments” across Africa. It would have the goal of eradicating malaria on the continent—saving millions of lives and adding “luster to America’s image in the world.”
 
 
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