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US 2008 and foreign policy: what to expect from a John McCain presidency
07/03/2008 By Robert Matthews
The 2008 campaign will present the US electorate with perhaps the clearest choice between Republican and Democratic candidates and their platforms since the 1972 contest between George McGovern and Richard Nixon. And although the nature of this article is necessarily speculative, we have some good indications of what John McCain really thinks and will probably do because Senator McCain has been in Congress for 26 years and has staked out his views and policy positions for some time.
Photo of www.johnmccain.com
At first glance John McCain’s foreign policy appears to be a sort of trimmed down version of Bush’s militarism but with the kind of detailed plans that the arrogant Rumsfeld scorned. His vision is not that of a neoconservative with its emphasis on muscular unilateralism, preemptive wars and military adventures to remake countries and reconfigure regions. McCain’s vision is rather that of a more traditional, patriotic, pro-military, empire-defending conservative.
Although he does not articulate it quite the same way, like the Democrats, he feels that Bush’s foreign policy has led the country astray in many respects. And more than the two Democratic candidates, McCain still sees the US role as that of the post-Cold War “global sheriff,” a role he is proud to uphold, defend and enhance.
In place of Bush’s unilateralism McCain is more willing to consult and act in concert with allied nations to confront international problems. The most ambitious expression of this idea is his proposal for a “League of Democracies” to take action when the UN fails to do so and to be involved in political and moral suasion and humanitarian missions.
What we have is a Republican candidate who in some measure mirrors Bush’s domestic and foreign policies - albeit in a sort of “Bush-lite” version. His vow to banish torture and to close Guantánamo are important distinctions separating him from the current administration, while his pledge to pursue a successor treaty to Kyoto, disowned by the Bush administration, and his general attitudes toward the issue of environmental protection place him very near the stance of his Democratic rivals.
Finally, however, McCain’s support for free trade and the NAFTA agreement places him at odds with the Democrats, but squarely in the Bush camp.
In this Comment article Robert Matthews examines the Republican hopeful’s track record on foreign policy and asks what the world should expect if he does win the race for the White House.
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Keywords
Elections International relations Multilateralism Neo-conservatives United StatesRelated publications
- Bush and Blair, lost in Palestine and Israel
- Spain and the foreing policy of the Bush administration
Bio author: Robert Matthews
Robert Matthews, Associate Fellow of FRIDE, holds a Ph.D in Latin American history from New York University, where he was a teacher at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. For twenty years was a collaborator with the Peace Research Center - Centro de Investigación para la Paz (CIP) - in Madrid, specializing in United States foreign policy.
