Republican presidential candidate John McCain gave an important foreign policy address to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council today.

McCain described himself as a “realistic idealist.”

He, as he has done for quite some time, emphasized “the threat of radical Islamic terrorism” as the “transcendent challenge of our time.” The Arizona senator said these individuals seek to strike the United States with the “world’s most terrible weapons” and receive assistance from states that “share with terrorists the same animating hatred for the West.” McCain did not specifically mention any entities in this passage, but later stressed on al-Qaeda and Iran, creating a convenient and non-existent linkage between the two.

In order to combat this threat and advance “free people and free markets,” McCain called for greater ties with “the European Union…the great nations of India and Japan, Australia and Brazil, South Korea and South Africa, Turkey and Israel.” They would form the core of a “League of Democracies.”

McCain continued his indelicate dance between realism and neoconservatism, stating that the belief that autocrats like Mubarak of Egypt, the Saudi royals, and “the generals of Pakistan” provide stability is delusional, while cautioning against “act[ing] rashly or demand[ing] change overnight.” He said, “Change is occurring whether we want it or not.” McCain called on the U.S. to actively shape the this coming change to “benefit humanity” and not “let our enemies seize it for their hateful purposes.”

He argued for a multidimensional approach:

“Prevailing in this struggle will require far more than military force. It will require the use of all elements of our national power: public diplomacy; development assistance; law enforcement training; expansion of economic opportunity; and robust intelligence capabilities. I have called for major changes in how our government faces the challenge of radical Islamic extremism by much greater resources for and integration of civilian efforts to prevent conflict and to address post-conflict challenges. Our goal must be to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the vast majority of moderate Muslims who do not want their future controlled by a minority of violent extremists. In this struggle, scholarships will be far more important than smart bombs.”

McCain remains a ‘national interest first’ guy while adhering to a belief in an ideological struggle that verges on being cosmological. He struggles with two binary views of the world that don’t always gel well together: a) democracies (good) and autocracies (bad); b) supporters of “radical Islamic terrorism” (bad) and its opponents (good). In the end, this tension will likely linger and adjust according to developments on the ground and inside McCain’s head.

There was no mention of Pakistan’s February elections and new prime minister, though McCain says “the democracies of the world…will provide the pillars upon which we can and must build an enduring peace.” This is in large part because McCain and most in Washington have little idea as to how the new government and political players view the “transcendent challenge of our time.” And so, democracy in Pakistan, has little inherent value. If it fails to meet particular “transcendent challenge” benchmarks, then McCain the “realistic idealist” becomes simply a “realistic idealist.”