McCain on China and Empire

As the 2008 presidential election draws nearer, hot topics in international relations are receiving much attention from the leading candidates. In December’s issue of Foreign Affairs, John McCain laid out his view of the international community. He offers his take on a few of the issues raised this semester including the rise of China and the accusations of the United States as an empire.
McCain states:
When China builds new submarines, adds hundreds of new jet fighters,
Modernizes its arsenal of strategic ballistic missiles, and tests antisatellite
Weapons, the United States legitimately must question the intent of such provocative acts (29).
McCain recognizes that China’s actions are defended as peaceful. So is a security dilemma at hand? McCain points out that China cannot be trusted due to a lack of transparency surrounding its “peaceful” arms build-up. As a result, McCain accuses China of building up for aggressive purposes to destabilize democracies in the region and reinforce autocratic regimes. Because of McCain’s interpretation of China’s build-up as aggressive, will a security dilemma and potentially war become likely if he is elected president? McCain suggests dealing with China by bolstering our alliances with democratic and friendly nations surrounding it and to establish a greater American presence there- essentially, he suggests offshore balancing. China might see this as an aggressive move and might be further provoked to build-up forces. The cycle of a security dilemma could continue until war is almost certain. Or is he pointing out a case of threat inflation? It is interesting to note that in the same issue, Hillary Clinton does not mention China as a threat to American security. In fact, she sees China as a political and military ally to a certain extent and mostly as a foe environmentally. This difference goes to show the importance of perception where a security dilemma is concerned.
McCain also offers his view on America as an empire. Though he recognizes that there is a perception of the United States as an empire in the rest of the world, he refers to America as the “antithesis of empire” (33). He sees our form of leadership as unique and incomparable to the empires we normally think of when we hear the word. He claims that we gain credibility from this leadership, that we are “a special nation, the closest thing to a “shining city on a hill” ever to have existed” (33). Yet he recognizes that relationships have been damaged and must be repaired so that the rest of the world can once again see this American benevolence and model society. We must restore our moral credibility, he says. He suggests binding measures to achieve this goal. It is interesting to see how important McCain sees the debate on empire as having. He clearly prescribes to the view that the United States has acted in a fashion that is too unilateral. Though he believes that the nation should maintain the right to act unilaterally, he claims that doing so when unnecessary ruins the traditional role the United States has played in the world and changes it from a friend who offers security and add to a foe that has the perception of bullying and ruling forcefully other nations.
Surely, these two issues will come up multiple times in the time remaining before the November elections. And certainly things will change in the international world from now until then. For now, it is interesting to see where McCain and the other candidates stand on issues that have been discussed at length this semester and that will clearly be important issues to be dealt with during the term of the next president.
McCain, John. “An Enduring Peace Built on Freedom.” Foreign Affairs. November/December 2007. New
York: Council in Foreign Relations, 2007.