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 The Florida senator and potential Republican presidential hopeful
will argue in remarks Wednesday at the conservative American
Enterprise Institute in Washington that diplomacy and foreign aid
should "vastly outnumber" the country's uses of military force,
according to excerpts provided to The Associated Press.
"While military might may be our most eye-catching method of
involvement abroad, it is far from being our most often utilized,"
Rubio says. "In most cases, the decisive use of diplomacy, foreign
assistance and economic power are the most effective ways to achieve
our interests and stop problems before they spiral into crises."
Rubio's speech comes amid a debate in the Republican Party over the
role of U.S. foreign policy and military involvement after more than
a decade of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Traditional hawks, such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have long
favored military intervention in foreign conflicts, including the
civil war in Syria. But a growing bloc of noninterventionists, led
by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is pursuing a more dovish course, animated
by libertarian beliefs.
Paul, another possible GOP presidential contender, has gone so far
as to suggest cutting foreign aid in half and completely excluding
countries, primarily in the Muslim world, that don't share American
values.
Rubio, who sits on the Senate's Foreign Relations and Intelligence
committees, argues for a middle ground between the hawks and doves.
"These labels are obsolete. They come from the world of the past,"
he says. "The time has now come for a new vision for America's role
abroad — one that reflects the reality of the world we live in
today."
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Rubio has used his perch on the Foreign Relations Committee to call
for stiffer sanctions for Iran as Western powers and Tehran seek to
resolve a decade-long standoff over the country's nuclear program.
The senator, who has criticized an international proposal to ease
the economic sanctions, is expected to address the issue Wednesday
as those negotiations resume and offer policy prescriptions that
touch all corners of the globe.
"As instability spreads and tyrants flourish, our allies want to
know whether America can still be counted on to confront these
common challenges," he says.
On Tuesday, Rubio offered a defense of robust foreign aid at a
Foreign Relations Committee meeting on the humanitarian effort for
the millions of victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. He
criticized China for its modest aid, saying the country's politics
influenced its response.
"Compare that to the United States, which consistently has been
willing to put aside whatever political differences we may have when
a humanitarian crisis strikes," he said, citing disasters in recent
years in Pakistan and Haiti.
Rubio will continue his foreign policy tour with a speech in
December at London's Chatham House, an international affairs think
tank.
[Associated
Press; MICHAEL J. MISHAK]
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