Conflicts Of Interest

Without state-of-the-art maritime capabilities--like the mobile "global fleet station" envisaged by the U.S.--we shall have no way of responding to such challenges, save an increasingly anachronistic nuclear deterrent.

But the real tragedy is that, without some battle-hardened political leaders (and John McCain is the only one I can think of), we may not grasp this until it is too late.

[McCain's] growing kitchen cabinet spans an array of issues and backgrounds, and includes James Jay Baker, a former lobbyist for the National Rifle Association; Niall Ferguson, a historian at Harvard; and Barry McCaffrey, who was the drug czar under President Bill Clinton.[Italics mine]