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Get Four
|  | JULY 29, 2004
By Stan Crock The World According to Kerry His foreign-policy goals aren't radically different from Bush's, but his plans for achieving them differ considerably When Senator John Kerry and Richard C. Holbrooke chat about foreign policy, Iraq and Afghanistan predictably top the agenda. But Holbrooke, an investment banker, ex-diplomat, and now a Kerry adviser, says their talk often turns to another topic that's seared into their consciousness: Vietnam. In the 1960s, Kerry was a young U.S. Navy officer there, and Holbrooke was a rising star in the Foreign Service posted to Saigon. The conflict was a crucible that forged both men's worldviews -- an experience that can't help but color Kerry's foreign policy if he wins in November. "It's not that he's imprisoned by Vietnam," Holbrooke says. "He's informed by his experience there." What did Kerry take away from his perilous stints patrolling the Mekong Delta -- and the years since? He learned that Washington often doesn't know enough about countries where it intervenes, and thus overestimates what it can achieve. Vietnam taught Kerry that the U.S. should exhaust diplomatic options before resorting to war. A COMPLEX OUTLOOK. And when the U.S. does use force, Kerry learned, it can't cut and run. If America abandons a dependent nation, "you have to count on mass instability," says Kerry biographer Douglas Brinkley. Vietnam also taught the candidate that issues can seldom be painted in black and white, as President George W. Bush often does: Just as Kerry served in Vietnam despite his doubts about that war, today he can back the war in Iraq while criticizing its management. Can a complex global outlook win over voters in a post-September 11 America that fears an election-season attack? Kerry sells himself as a pragmatic internationalist pitted against a reckless, ideologically driven unilateralist. Republicans counter that with his back-to-the-future multilateralism and frequent waffling, Kerry isn't tough enough to win the war on terror, beat back Iraqi insurgents, and bring such rogue nations as North Korea and Iran to heel. Kerry's response: At the Democratic convention, he enlisted a dozen three- and four-star admirals and generals who back his candidacy. While voters still give Bush higher marks on terror, pollster John Zogby says undecided voters may choose Kerry's nuance over Bush's moralism. "Swing voters appear to be more in that column," Zogby says. "TOO DANGEROUS AND SIMPLE." Kerry maintains that his approach is the best way to restore America's standing in the world and win greater global cooperation. That's needed on a host of fronts, from intelligence-sharing to tracking and freezing terrorists' assets. "It will take new leadership from the U.S. to change the credibility of our government and its ability to bring people to the table," Kerry told BusinessWeek. To start the process, a newly inaugurated President Kerry would make a quick trip to the U.N., meet with European leaders, and launch an intensive Middle East peace initiative. Many believe a Kerry win would yield a global sigh of relief. Bush's "religious [attitude] of good and evil, you're with us or against us -- this is alienating even many conservatives in Europe," says Karsten D. Voigt, coordinator of German-American cooperation at the German Foreign Ministry. China and other countries in Asia "consider Bush's policies too dangerous and simple," says Wang Yong, a global relations expert at Beijing University. But while the tone may be different, the Kerry Doctrine's substance may not mark the radical departure from Bush policies that many expect. One reason: Bush has coopted policies Kerry has advocated, from expanding the U.N.'s role in Iraq reconstruction to negotiating with North Korea to pledging to implement the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.
BW MALL
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