Former Reagan administration official Robert McFarlane says Senator John McCain's first year as president would be 'neocon redux'.

According to McFarlane, 'the youngsters' would run foreign policy the first year and then likely be 'fired' by the second after they mess up, the Huffington Post reported.

McFarlane, who supports the Arizona senator's candidacy, made the remark during a Monday session on US-Russia relations at the Nixon Center.

Reagan's former national security advisor added that he was not speaking as a member of McCain's campaign but as a practical realist and private citizen.

Former US state secretary Henry Kissinger, former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft and other realist elders who are consulted by McCain believe the 71-year-old's heart is with the younger neocons.

MD/HGH