League of Democracies

Senator John McCain is on the stump today in Los Angeles displaying his foreign policy credentials and taking a swipe at the Bush administration's unilateralist, "cowboy" diplomacy. Citing examples of the Cold War, our alliance with NATO, and the war on terror, McCain bluntly admitted that the U.S. has an "image problem" under the current administration. While the U.S. remains the world's lone superpower, it cannot go it alone in a world filled with such venomous and murderous enemies. McCain hopes to reestablish ties with allies we have abandoned these past eight years in the hope of restoring more balance and sensibility to our foreign policy. In an AP story McCain was quoted as saying that "The United States cannot lead by virtue of its power alone," noting that "the United States did not single-handedly win the Cold War or other conflicts in its history". The story went on to say that "instead...the country must lead by attracting others to its cause, demonstrating the virtues of freedom and democracy, defending the rules of an international civilized society and creating new international institutions". In other words, John McCain wants to create a League of Democracies that "must set an example for other democracies...to create a new global compact of more than 100 democratic countries to advance shared values and defend shared interests".