Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite
Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., pauses before speaking to reporters during a meeting of the National Defense Authorization Act conferees, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017.
- Republican Sen. John McCain wrote an op-ed on Medium that lamented the fall of the liberal order and the rise of international chaos.
- He called out President Donald Trump and other leaders whom he accused of stoking ethno-nationalist feelings around the world.
- McCain finished by urging Americans to step up and defend liberal values.
Republican Sen. John McCain gave a bleak outlook on the state of international order on Thursday, writing that the world is "out of control" and that "2017 has seen the erosion of that order and the institutions that protect it" in an essay published on Medium.
In the piece, titled "Driving Back Chaos," McCain contrasted the state of affairs around the world today with the liberal world order of the 20th century that followed the two world wars.
"After 70 years of the greatest stability, security, and prosperity the world has ever known, we are letting that order slip through our fingers," McCain wrote. "If we do, we will find that the chaos left behind will neither protect our interests nor promote our values - and it will surely not secure the peace."
The Arizona senator directly implicated President Donald Trump in his criticisms.
"Our president sees virtue in his unpredictability and prefers uninformed tweets to intentional strategies. We owe our allies and partners - and the American people - better."
McCain pointed to issues Trump and other nationalistic world leaders have espoused as contributing to the demise of the post-war order.
"As many across the globe turned away from universal values, they found comfort in the old ties of ethnicity, race, and sectarianism," McCain stated. "They became increasingly resentful of 'the other' they saw in immigrants, refugees, and minority groups. They turned inward and embraced nationalism."
At the end of his op-ed, McCain struck a hopeful note, urging Americans that a better world is possible.
"If we take up the mantle of reviving the universal liberal values and our national political institutions, we can choose order over chaos," he concluded.