Pat Dollard | Young Americans

by John McCain - (The Australian)

A LITTLE more than 100 years ago, president Theodore Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet steamed into Sydney Harbour. Hundreds of thousands of Australians cheered the 16 battleships that would circumnavigate the globe as a demonstration that America was now a Pacific and a world power. On board the gunboat Panay, patrolling the Philippine archipelago, a young midshipman named John Sidney McCain - my grandfather - shared in the navy’s pride at Roosevelt’s audacious gesture. Only two years out of the naval academy, my grandfather would shortly be promoted to ensign and assigned to the flagship USS Connecticut for the fleet’s triumphant return to the US.

In the middle of 1908, Australians and Americans recognised immediately the kindred spirit of two rugged and energetic peoples separated by half the globe but united by shared hopes for mankind. That initial friendship would be forged into an inseparable bond through many struggles in the years to come. Ten years after the Great White Fleet left Sydney Harbour, American soldiers would serve under Australian general John Monash at the decisive Battle of Hamel on the Western Front. My father and grandfather would both serve side by side with the Royal Australian Navy in the Pacific theatre, turning back the Japanese tide and then building a post-war network of alliances that would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity in Asia.

From Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, I have seen first-hand how succeeding generations of young Americans and Australians have been ready to step forward together to defeat aggression and provide relief and recovery for the stricken.

A century ago, Roosevelt understood the sources and purpose of American power. He championed reform and protection of the environment; he spoke out against tyranny; and he demanded that America stay true to the principles it espoused, at home and abroad. Roosevelt helped the American people to understand that we are a Pacific nation.

I believe that we must return to these same qualities if we are to continue earning the trust and friendship from Australia that have been so critical to America’s role in the world since 1908.

In Asia this means engagement must begin with our allies. Our alliance with Australia sets the standard. Our ally Japan has proved a strong and reliable partner to the US and Australia. South Korea is taking on new global responsibilities. We can reinvigorate our traditional alliances with Thailand and The Philippines and build on newly strengthened partnerships with Singapore and India. And we should recognise our shared values and common purpose with New Zealand.

Firm commitments to our allies will set the stage for an American engagement of China that builds on the many areas of common interest we share with Beijing and encourages candour and progress in those areas where China has not fulfilled its responsibilities as a global power.

We have seen both aspects of China’s rise vividly demonstrated during the Olympics. Americans and Australians have been impressed with Beijing’s glittering landscape and warmed by the hospitality and graciousness of the Chinese people. But in Beijing our journalists have also seen up close how human dignity suffers when basic rights such as freedom of speech and religious worship are denied. Our shared challenge is to convince the Chinese leadership that their nation’s remarkable success rests ultimately on whether they can translate economic development into a more open and tolerant political process at home, and a more responsible foreign policy abroad.

American leadership is also necessary on trade. For six decades, Democratic and Republican presidents have consistently stood for free trade, but in this presidential election the Democratic candidate has broken with that tradition. I believe that free trade agreements, such as those we have entered into with Australia and Singapore and have negotiated with South Korea, are critical building blocks for an open and inclusive economic order in the Asia-Pacific region. They create billions of dollars’ worth of new exports and set a higher standard for trade liberalisation that ultimately helps all the nations in the region.

America has never won respect or created jobs by hiding behind protectionist walls and I will continue making the case for free trade, regardless of political expediency.

Today the American and Australian people face unprecedented challenges in the area of proliferation. Australia is a key partner in our efforts to reverse the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs. The US and Australia can also do more to reinforce the broader non-proliferation regime. My administration would lead by example by pushing for a fissile materials cut-off agreement and by reducing the US nuclear stockpile while maintaining a deterrent against attacks on our homeland and allies. I will also work with Australia and other allies to make the International Atomic Energy Agency more effective.

I am mindful that Australians, like Americans, have suffered terrible terrorist attacks. But we can also take pride in our successful co-operation with other nations in Southeast Asia to interrupt terrorist networks and prevent further attacks. In forums such as the Association of South-East Asian Nations and Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation, states have moved from initial shock to mutual co-operation in the fight against terror. It reminds us that while our alliances remain the foundation of peace and stability in Asia, we have new opportunities to build patterns of multilateral co-operation.

Our successes in the war on terror also result directly from our determination to take the fight to the enemy. Some have argued that American or Australian security would be better served if we abandon the mission in Iraq, but in fact the result would be just the opposite. A precipitous US withdrawal would only embolden our adversaries, risk regional instability, and demoralise our friends. After mismanaging the aftermath of the war, we have now established a more secure Iraq with the surge strategy and we are seeing the results in the steady process of political reconciliation and economic recovery. By bringing our troops home in victory, rather than defeat, we can ensure that they stay home once and for all.

Australians have looked to the US for leadership on climate change and it is time for us to answer that call. I support a market-based cap-and-trade system aimed at reducing carbon emissions, and I will work with Australia and other nations to establish a global framework that encourages China and India to join us in becoming part of the solution to man-made climate change.

Above all, I believe that Australians look to the US to live by the ideals that inspired our founding fathers. That is why I have opposed the use of torture and insisted on a policy towards detainees that is unambiguously consistent with international law. By the same token, I believe it is incumbent on the US to stand with those who struggle for freedom, whether it is Aung San Suu Kyi’s non-violent resistance in Burma or the Georgian people’s desperate struggle to save their young democracy from columns of Russian tanks. We must remember that no nation or culture holds a monopoly on the insight that all men and women are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights. These are not only universal truths; they are also the indispensable bedrock for the shared prosperity and stability we all desire.

The sailors and marines who steamed back to the US on board the USS Connecticut in 1908 must have regaled ensign John Sidney McCain with stories of a vast Australian continent and a warm-hearted people so much like our own. Three generations later our friendship is stronger than ever, but so too are our challenges and opportunities. If elected president of the US, I will look to Australia to help us navigate these challenges and to fulfil the promise that our grandparents and great-grandparents discovered about our partnership a century ago.

John McCain is the Republican presidential candidate.

Barack Obama has been invited to contribute.