If You Like Strategic Drift; You'll Love John McCain Posted by Michael Cohen

Kudos to Max for making exactly the right point about McCain's foreign policy strategy - if diplomacy and "talking to our enemies" is off the table it clearly increases the possibility of using force in pursuit of America's foreign policy objectives.

But, there is even more nuance that needs to be explored in what McCain is suggesting. Over the last seven years, US interests vis-a-vis Iran and North Korea have suffered dramatically - and it's not necessarily because we haven't talked to them or because we've emptily threatened use of force; it's because we've largely done nothing. A McCain presidency promises four more years of this type of strategic drift.

Take North Korea for example, the Bush Administration strategy has been to hold its breath until Pyongyang halts its nuclear program. The North Koreans response has been "no thank you." And so what has the Bush Administration done about it - absolutely nothing. We've sat back and hemmed and hawed as North Korea went ahead and began reprocessing its plutonium fuel rods, built a nuclear device and then tested it. Not talking to North Korea and placing unmeetable demands on them has been an unmitigated disaster. If John McCain refuses to even countenance talking to North Korea - and if most everyone seems to agree that a military strike would be disastrous -- how will his policy be any different?

Same for Iran. The Bush Administration has rejected Iranian overtures and rattled sabers that few in the region take seriously. Today Iran is stronger than it was eight years ago and its influence in the region has grown. Again, how will a McCain Administration reverse this trend, short of war? If McCain has a strategy in mind he's keeping it well hidden.

There are many key tools and levers at America's disposal, from diplomatic suasion to improved bilateral relations, economic investment or in the case of North Korea, increased food aid, but those tools are largely useless if you refuse to engage with your interlocutors or if you place demands on them that they have no reason to accede to.

One of the lessons that the last eight years has taught us is that there are serious limits to US power. We simply can't demand that other countries bend to our will if it's not in their interest to do so. And if we continue to threaten the use of force and then do nothing, our enemies have even more reason to see us as a paper tiger. Now of course, McCain could reverse the trend by unsheathing the military against North Korea or Iran or Syria. I am skeptical that he will do so, but as Max points out it's a logical inference to make from his public proclamations. But the alternative scenario of doing nothing and continuing the same failed policy of not engaging our enemies is not much better.

Whatever course McCain chooses, it could be a disaster for American foreign policy.