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.