Dialogues on American Foreign Policy and World Affairs: Senator John McCain & Walter Russell Mead

Senator John McCain joined Walter Russell Mead, Hudson Institute Distinguished Scholar in American Strategy and Statesmanship, for a one-on-one discussion of U.S. national security challenges. Mead explored Senator McCain’s perspective on America’s role in the world, the pending U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, the rapid rise of the Islamic State, Russia, growing tensions in the South China Sea, U.S. defense readiness and reform, and other challenges facing American policymakers today and in the years ahead.

Senator McCain is Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services and a highly influential voice on national security and international affairs. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, McCain’s career as a naval aviator spanned over two decades, including five and a half years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi. His military decorations include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Dialogues on American Foreign Policy and World Affairs is a Hudson initiative moderated by Distinguished Scholar Walter Russell Mead, one of America’s leading analysts of international affairs.

These dialogues are guided by the belief that global prosperity, the defense of human rights, and the establishment of a secure and peaceful world order require a foreign policy that places a robust America at the center of a broad and vigorous network of allies. This series features leading policymakers and opinion leaders in candid conversation on timely questions of international affairs, national security, economics, and civil society.