John McCain Airs His Concept
Of Enduring Peace

By Paul Kendall

Presidential candidate Senator John McCain recently presented his vision for U.S. foreign policy in the journal Foreign Affairs. It is an optimistic vision that promises to secure our future by building an enduring global peace based upon the American ideals of freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and hope.

Unfortunately, instead of staying with this uplifting perspective, the Senator begins his presentation with proposals that are fundamentally militaristic in approach and interventionist in tone. These proposals create a context antithetical to his more creative, non-military message.

Victory over terrorism is his first priority, and defending the American homeland is his second. These require, he writes, combating al Qaeda in Iraq, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Israel, nuclear proliferation in Iran, and Islamic extremism in general. And in order to meet these challenges, he would significantly increase the defense budget; expand our armed forces by roughly 50%, to 900,000 troops; and develop a non-military police force that could be deployed to any part of the world deemed threatened by state collapse.

Looking beyond these immediate priorities, Senator McCain offers some fresh ideas on how to achieve a lasting peace. Central to his thinking is the recognition that the number of democracies in the world today has grown significantly since the existing structure of international institutions was created after World War II. Consequently, there is now no institutional forum that can bring all democratic governments together in any focused way. The United Nations represents all nations, regardless of their form of government; NATO is limited to the U.S. and our European allies; and the G-8 group of highly industrialized states excludes two of the world´s largest democracies and fastest growing economies: Brazil and India.

The Senator therefore proposes several changes to the structure of international relations. First, he would seek to revive democratic solidarity by bringing together all like-minded governments in a worldwide League of Democracies. The intent of this League would be to act when the United Nations fails to relieve human suffering, to confront environmental crises, or to provide market access to those countries seeking economic and political freedom. The League would also give a strong voice to the democracies in Asia and Latin America that are currently denied a voice in the UN Security Council.

Second, in response primarily to what he sees as a "revanchist Russia," Senator McCain would expand NATO from the Baltic to the Black Sea by incorporating democratic members from the former Soviet Union. He would also expand the G-8 club of leading free-market-oriented democracies by including Brazil and India but excluding Russia. And in addition, he would seek to revitalize our historic transatlantic partnership by inviting the European Union to join with the U.S. in creating a common energy policy and a common approach to democracy promotion.

Finally, the Senator recognizes, without a sense of alarm, that the center of global power in the twenty-first century is moving eastward to the Asian-Pacific region and away from Europe and the Atlantic basin. Considering India, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines, and several smaller nations in the region, there are now more people living under democratic rule in Asia than in any other region of the world.

He therefore proposes an Asian strategy that has three components. The first is to recognize Japan´s international leadership by granting it a seat on the UN Security Council. The second is to create a new security partnership among the major Asian-Pacific democracies: Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. but excluding China. And third is to continue engagement with China, focusing on our many shared interests, as China moves at its own pace towards political liberalization.

To achieve the hoped-for benefits of his League of Democracies, containment of Russia, and the Asian strategy Senator McCain recognizes that the U.S. would have to demonstrate its ability to be a flexible and reliable partner: one that can listen to, respect, and accommodate the views of other democracies. And there is the rub.

His strong defense of President Bush's positions on Iraq, Iran, Israel, and terrorism make such a demonstration improbable. At no point in discussing his current high-priority foreign policy issues- terrorism and homeland security- does Senator McCain bend from his predetermined agenda. This inflexibility hardly augurs well for his ability and willingness to nurture the new partnership that he envisions the U.S. cultivating in order to achieve his enduring peace.

How the Senator would bridge the gap between the militaristic tone and expensive budgetary requirements of his opening statements and the compassionate and visionary proposals that follow, he does not say. But within his forward-looking proposals there is much that any successful applicant to the White House would be well-served to think about, especially if he/she can offer a more plausible plan for achieving them.