By Karl F. Inderfurth, Frank Sesno and Derek Chollet|October 12, 2008
As Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain ponder how they would guide America in the world, they need wise counsel and sound advice. Recently, five former U.S. secretaries of state from both political parties provided just that.
Henry A. Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Warren Christopher, Madeleine K. Albright and Colin L. Powell gathered at George Washington University to talk about the challenges facing the next president. Two support Mr. McCain (Mr. Baker and Mr. Kissinger) and two favor Mr. Obama (Ms. Albright and Mr. Christopher), while Mr. Powell remains undecided.
Here's the secretaries' bottom line: The world is a complicated place. America has to be a leader (but not "the policeman for the world," Mr. Baker said) Hold down the ideology and approach the world realistically and with perspective.
What they said also reflects a silver lining that can be difficult to perceive in the current presidential debate: There is a bipartisan center for the future of American foreign policy.
They all agreed that the next administration must seek greater international cooperation. Immediately after taking office, Mr. Powell said, the new president must "start to restore a sense of confidence in the United States of America." That means letting "our friends and allies know that America is reaching out to them. ... We're going to work in unison." Mr. Christopher put it this way: "The president has to let the world know that this is not a 'with-us-or-against-us' administration."
On Iran, they all agreed that the next administration needed to engage Tehran at a high level. "The whole point is, you try to ... deal with countries that you have problems with. It's one of the most important relationships we need to work on," said Ms. Albright, who tried to pursue an opening with Iran during the Clinton administration. Mr. Powell joined in: "Don't wait for a letter coming from them. Start the discussion." Mr. Kissinger said he would begin these talks at the secretary of state level, adding: "I do not believe we can make conditions for the opening of negotiations."
Mr. Baker added Syria to the engagement agenda for the next administration (along with Iran, a country snubbed during the Bush years): "There's a Syria deal to be had."
These diplomats agreed America's global image needs serious repair. They laid out three things the next president should do to start to fix it: Close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo ("A very serious blot upon our reputation," said Mr. Baker), outlaw torture and lead on climate change.
