Both Candidates Embrace Diplomacy

The call for greater diplomacy has been echoed by other prominent figures. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has made a series of speeches arguing that U.S. foreign policy has become excessively militarized and that the State Department needs more resources. A bipartisan group of former secretaries of state last month made the case for direct talks with adversaries such as Iran.

Of course, McCain and Obama differ sharply on some foreign policy issues, notably how long to prosecute the war in Iraq. McCain has sought to portray Obama as naive and inexperienced in foreign affairs, seizing on the Illinois Democrat's comment during the primary debates in which he expressed willingness to meet with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea within his first year as president. Obama later amended that to say such meetings would occur only after extensive preparation by lower-level officials.

McCain has also signaled that he would take a tougher line on Iran, seeking to quickly enact enhanced political, economic and financial sanctions shortly after taking office -- a diplomatic push that could cause tensions with European allies.

But McCain's aides say he would also take dramatic steps in his first 100 days to reassure allies, including issuing an executive order closing the Guantanamo detention center and transferring detainees to U.S. facilities.

The Obama campaign has tended to ignore the Bush administration's second-term shifts, instead painting all of the Bush years as a disaster for diplomacy.

"Eight years of bluster and refusing to engage our adversaries has clearly left the United States less safe and less respected in the world," spokesman Hari Sevugan said. "Barack Obama emphasizes diplomacy because he wants to use all elements of American power -- including the power of direct, aggressive American diplomacy with all nations -- to create new opportunities to protect the American people."

But Kagan, the McCain adviser, said it is difficult to overcome serious differences even with some of Washington's closest allies, including whether to contribute more troops to Afghanistan and how strongly to confront Russia.

"We cannot ignore the fact that other countries have interests that are counter to ours," he said. "When all the smiling stops, you are back to some basic, intractable problems."