Senator John McCain addressed the importance of allies as part of his foreign policy speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles, Calif. on Wednesday, March 26.

"In such a world, where power of all kinds is more widely and evenly distributed, the United States cannot lead by virtue of its power alone. We must be strong politically, economically, and militarily," McCain said. "But we must also lead by attracting others to our cause, by demonstrating once again the virtues of freedom ... Perhaps above all, leadership in today's world means accepting and fulfilling our responsibilities as a great nation."

Senator John McCain McCain's main focus of his speech was discussing the importance of building and strengthening allies. 

"Today we are not alone. There is the powerful collective voice of the European Union, and there are the great nations of India and Japan, Australia and Brazil, South Korea and South Africa, Turkey and Israel, to name just a few of the leading democracies," said McCain. " We cannot build an enduring peace based on freedom by ourselves, and we do not want to."

America must be a model citizen if we want others to look to us as a model.  How we behave at home affects how we are perceived abroad. Sen. John McCain

In addition to having good allies, McCain stressed the importance of being a good ally to others.

"At the heart of this new compact must be mutual respect and trust," he said. "America must be a model citizen if we want others to look to us as a model.  How we behave at home affects how we are perceived abroad."

Sen. McCain has fought bitterly in his time as a senator to shed light on global warming and to build a serious movement that would force Americans to do their part in solving the problem.

"The risks of global warming have no borders," McCain commented. "We and the other nations of the world must get serious about substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years or we will hand off a much-diminished world to our grandchildren."

"I run for President because I know it is incumbent on America, more than any other nation on earth, to lead in building the foundations for a stable and enduring peace, a peace built on the strength of our commitment to it, on the transformative ideals on which we were founded, on our ability to see around the corner of history, and on our courage and wisdom to make hard choices."

Editor's Take

Love him or hate him, John McCain is unquestionably the most experienced of the remaining candidates when it comes to foreign policy and managing the military. 

Though McCain is admittingly not the most knowledgeable when it comes to economic issues, his decades of experience in foreign relations and his time serving in the military sets him apart; this is well worth taking into consideration when heading to the voting booths in November.

By no means am I saying this makes him the strongest candidate, or that experience alone makes him deserving of the presidency. But there's no question, at least in my mind, that he has more of a grasp on how to lead the military wisely than either of his opponents.

But who knows, maybe Barack or Hillary could step in and lead the military just as well or better than McCain.

Time will tell.