Arguably no other Democrat in the last half century has gone into a run for the White House with more international experience than Kerry, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for nearly two decades.

And the Massachussetts senator, 60, has lost no time staking out a conciliatory, consensus-building foreign policy in sharp contrast to Bush's willingness to go it alone and use pre-emptive military force.

Kerry proposes a "new era of alliances" to replace an approach by the Republican administration that he brands "the most arrogant, inept, reckless and ideological foreign policy in modern history."

"No matter how much power we have, we cannot prevail single-handedly," he says. "We have to work with the international community to define a global strategy that is inclusive, not exclusive, collective and not imperial."

The Vietnam veteran and anti-war protester, who as senator helped smooth the way for a normalisation of ties with Hanoi, says he is ready to break with several canons of Bush policy if he captures the presidency.

He would seek direct dialogue with Iran and North Korea, two charter members of Bush's "axis of evil," to further negotiations on nuclear non-proliferation, the war against terrorism and other issues.

He would put the United Nations in charge of rebuilding Iraq, reject Bush's rush to hand power back to the Iraqis, and establish a "reasonable plan and a specific timetable" for restoring self-government.

If the war on terrorism does occasionally require military action, Kerry says, "it's primarily an intelligence and law enforcement operation that requires cooperation around the world."

Kerry would make an aggressive effort to rebuild "frayed and shredded" relationships, particularly with NATO allies, and call a summit to discuss a common anti-terrorism agenda and security framework.

But he would take a hard new look at the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia, which he says has well-documented ties to Islamic extremists and a role in financing terrorists.

"America cannot afford to hold its nose and play nice with a country whose actions often speak louder than its words," Kerry says

He would appoint a presidential ambassador to restart the moribund Middle East peace process, mentioning former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton as possibles. He would name a separate envoy to the Islamic world.

A Kerry administration would return the United States to leading efforts to counter global warming after Bush repudiated the Kyoto protocol on climate change three years ago.

On trade, Kerry voted for the North American Free Trade Agreementbut wants a "fair playing field" to prevent the loss of jobs overseas. He vows a tough line with countries such as China and Japan on issues ranging from market access to currency manipulations to boost exports.

Kerry has also pledged to initiate a 120-day review of all trade agreements to make sure they comply with labor practice and environmental obligations and are balanced for US workers.

The Republicans, meanwhile, have made no secret of their game plan to paint Kerry as a left-wing dove who might have been a decorated naval officer but has been a disaster on security issues as senator.

They will trumpet his past advocacy of a nuclear freeze, his votes to scrap weapons systems ranging from the B-2 bomber to the Apache attack helicopter and Patriot missile, and his efforts to hold down spending on intelligence.

"What we have here is the picture of someome who has just been consistently on the side of those Democrats who see no evil in the world," says Joshua Muravchik, resident scholar of the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

The Bush campaign will also try to tag the Democrat as a wooly thinker after voting against the 1991 Gulf war to chase Saddam Hussein's troops from Kuwait, then voting for last year's invasion of Iraq and now regretting it.

But as he moves closer to a likely showdown with Bush in November, Kerry has been trying to stiffen his security stands, pressing for 40,000 troops to be added to the overstretched US military.

His campaign also highlights his support for the use of force in Grenada in 1983, Panama in 1989, Somalia 1992, Kosovo 1999 and Afghanistan in 2001. Aides like foreign policy chief Rand Beers temper his accent on multilateralism.

Beers said last week that while Democrats believe in assembling the broadest coalition possible, if push comes to shove, "John Kerry will do what is necessary to defend the United States and its national interests."

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