McCain Shifts on Foreign Policy with Iran
During Friday night’s first U.S. presidential debate, Republican U.S. presidential candidate McCain shifted on his policy regarding negotiating with Iran. This represents an attempt to narrow the gap between his foreign policy and that of his rival presidential hopeful, Democratic candidate Barack Obama, and to widen that between himself and U.S. president George Bush, who is at a record-low approval rating by U.S. citizens. Previously, John McCain has argued against authorizing “high-profile direct talks with Iran,” stating that direct face-to-face talks are “the most overrated aspect of our dialogue about international relations.” After Obama cited Henry Kissinger’s calling for negotiations at the secretary of state level without precondition earlier this month, however, McCain stated that he encourages these lower level meetings, and that he has “always encouraged them.” He is highly reluctant, however, to meet with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has instead called for a new league of democracies, including Germany, France and Britain in working to impose sanctions on Iran, specifically regarding their nuclear program, which is a major concern for both U.S. presidential candidates. One European diplomat has voiced concerns over creating this league of democratic nations, however, suggesting that it could antagonize important countries like Russia and China with whom they would like to enjoy good relations. It has also been suggested that such a league may undermine the United Nations, and could therefore be potentially very unpopular internationally.
Kayla Cahoon
