Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are sharply divided on foreign policy questions, such as how to exit Iraq and how to deal with Iran.
Obama voted for a bill that would put a timeline on the Iraq War.
"What I've said is we should end this war responsibly," Obama said during the first presidential debate. "We should do it in phases, but in 16 months, we should be able to reduce our combat troops."
McCain, on the other hand, has stated that the U.S. can't leave Iraq in the near future.
"To promise a withdrawal of our forces from Iraq, regardless of the calamitous consequences to the Iraqi people, our most vital interests, and the future of the Middle East, is the height of irresponsibility," he said on his Web site.
Heather Hall, vice president of UNM's College Republicans, said she agrees with McCain.
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She said the U.S. should not withdraw from Iraq until the Iraqi government can prove it is capable of handling the insurgency.
"I don't want us to pull out and then all these insurgents flood in, and it just becomes a genocide," Hall said.
Another point of contention between McCain and Obama is diplomacy with Iran. McCain criticized Obama's willingness to negotiate with the country without preconditions.
McCain instead proposed to start a League of Democracies that could sanction Iran. He said the U.N. is unwilling to impose sanctions because Russia will veto them.
"We could impose significant, meaningful, painful sanctions on the Iranians that I think could have a beneficial effect," McCain said during the first debate.
Mark Peceny, professor and chairman of UNM's Political Science Department, said McCain's proposed league could be useful, as long as it acts as a supplement to the U.N.
"A League of Democracies that excludes nations like Russia, or that is seen as principally an instrument of U.S. foreign policy, is less likely to be successful than one seen as a genuine partnership of all the world's democracies," he said.
Obama said forcing Iran to agree to certain terms before the U.S. will negotiate with the country is not a good idea and hasn't worked in the past.
"What it means is that we don't do what we've been doing, which is to say, 'Until you agree to do exactly what we say, we won't have direct contacts with you,'" he said in the first debate.
Student Joseph Terry said negotiating with Iran without preconditions would show the rest of the world the United States' commitment to diplomacy.
"It really does show that we're not afraid, you know, that we're willing to make the extra stress, the effort, to make the world a lot better," he said.
But Obama has also proposed offensive action in Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.
"If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out," Obama said during the second debate.
McCain said Obama's view of Pakistan is reckless.
"If you are a country, and you're trying to gain the support of another country, then you want to do everything you can that they would act in a cooperative fashion," he said. "When you announce that you're going to launch an attack into another country, it's pretty obvious that you have the effect that it had in Pakistan: It turns public opinion against us."
Peceny said Obama, as a Democrat, would have an easier time appealing to foreign leaders than McCain.
"Obama will have one advantage over McCain in that he will be seen internationally as more of a clean break from the deeply unpopular Bush administration and will, therefore, be able to expect more international cooperation than would any Republican administration," he said.
