05 September 2008
Republicans Say John McCain Will Listen to American Allies
Party leaders tout presidential nominee’s foreign policy experience
St. Paul, Minnesota — Throughout the Republican National Convention, party leaders stopped by the State Department’s Foreign Press Center to describe presidential nominee John McCain as one who will listen to America’s allies when formulating foreign policy.
To be a better leader, McCain believes the United States needs to “listen to the concerns and be responsive to the concerns of friends and allies,” Kori Schake, deputy foreign policy adviser for the McCain campaign, told journalists.
McCain “recognizes the importance of having a coalition of our allies and friends,” Michigan Representative Pete Hoekstra said.
Campaign surrogates said McCain has a large team of advisers he would turn to when dealing with foreign policy and national security issues. “There are a lot of people he is going to ask for help and counsel. That’s the way he does his business,” Schake said. (See “Presidential Candidates’ Foreign Policy Advisers a Diverse Group.”)
McCain believes democracies are “different and better than other kinds of governments,” Schake said. If elected, McCain would help secure and promote fledgling democracies. The United States should “help strengthen their civil society and help strengthen their institutions of government.”
McCain would like to bring the world’s democracies together to address issues like climate change and problems in Burma and the Darfur region of Sudan, Schake said. The Republican candidate thinks democracies should speak with “a more consolidated voice on things that challenge our conscience,” she said.
Campaign surrogates said McCain has a better understanding of international issues than his opponent, Democrat Barack Obama. McCain “is known by world leaders all across the globe as a man who not only has a military background, but an understanding of foreign affairs,” Missouri Senator Christopher Bond told journalists.
OVERVIEW OF McCAIN’S FOREIGN POLICY POSITIONS
McCain has demonstrated his handling of foreign affairs during the crisis in Georgia, campaign surrogates said. Schake said McCain “means what he says when he says ‘We are all Georgians.’ … Allowing Russia to intimidate fledgling democracies on its border is bad for all of us.”
Even before the Georgia-Russia conflict, McCain questioned whether it is appropriate for Russia to be a member of the G8, a leading group of democracies, Schake said, while other large democracies with free markets like Brazil and India are not included.
Regarding the Middle East, throughout his campaign McCain has said he is concerned about Iran. “Senator McCain has been quite clear about the fact that a nuclear-armed Iran would be an unacceptable danger for us all,” Schake said.
Schake said McCain is a supporter of “peace in Palestine. … However, he also believes that negotiating peace and an enduring peace between Israelis and Palestinians requires a partner on the Palestinian side that is both willing and able to carry out its side of the agreements.”
McCain has said he believes the United States is not succeeding in Afghanistan but will be able to succeed by “giving the commanders on the ground the forces they say they need,” Schake said. “In Afghanistan, as in Iraq, Senator McCain’s philosophy is to rely on the judgment of the commanders on the ground and to hold them accountable for producing the results that are needed.”
Saying that Afghanistan’s success depends on the success of Pakistan, Schake said McCain believes “we don’t just need an Afghan strategy, we need a regional strategy that brings the government of Pakistan and other neighboring governments” together and encourages neighbors to realize that they have an interest in seeing a stable Afghanistan.
McCain wants more coordination between civil and military organizers and wants a “czar” for Afghanistan who would oversee all U.S. efforts in the country, according to Schake. McCain would promote more civil programs such as those that help strengthen the Afghanistan judiciary.
In Asia, McCain believes it is “a wonderful thing” that China’s economic growth has helped many get out of poverty, and that the United States should not feel threatened by China, Schake said. “But along with power and prosperity comes obligations, and he believes China has obligations to other countries in the international order as well as to its own people.” Among these obligations are to provide transparency about its military buildup and to ensure its exports are safe.
McCain sees recent developments in North Korea as a “positive step forward,” but he would seek a “comprehensive, verifiable … irreversible” agreement on its nuclear program that addresses security concerns of the United States and its allies.
In the Americas, McCain thinks Mexico has been “extraordinary courageous” in its efforts to fight organized crime and drug trafficking and supports the government “wholeheartedly,” Schake said. McCain is “forcefully for free trade,” said Bond.
A broad foreign policy concern for a new U.S. president will be the U.S. image overseas. Matthew Dowd, a political analyst for ABC News and chief strategist to the Bush/Cheney campaign in 2004, said Americans are concerned about their standing in the world. This is an issue on the minds of both candidates. “Both campaigns, I think, you’ll see address that a lot,” he said.
