Foreign Policy

NEW YORK -- Scattered among the ruins of Sept. 11 lie our post-Cold War views of foreign policy. In a manner similar to the decade after World War I, we had de-emphasized our concentration on foreign affairs and chosen not to fully comprehend the changes taking place in the world. With the end of the Cold War, we believed naively and arrogantly that we had won the march of history -- that metaphorically, our victory over communism represented the end of history. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, America believed that once again it had won the war to end all wars.

One Democratic candidate for president at least understands the importance of foreign policy. Sen. Bob Kerrey left a part of himself in Vietnam because of other people's judgments.With the economy providing an opportunity for a real contest in November, Democratic candidates and voters should pay close attention to the foreign-policy issue and its meaning for them.They perceive that President Bush is vulnerable on domestic issues. So, I suspect, does he. That is where they should attack, find fault, point with scorn and propose alternatives.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton delivered a spirited defense of his foreign policy last night as it came under attack by Republican rivals, particularly for being too close to Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin.Mr. Clinton's speech was promoted by aides as a "major" foreign policy address, but yesterday's dueling speeches delivered at the Richard Nixon Center sounded more like the first round of foreign policy debates of the 1996 presidential campaign.The president offered a detailed recitation of what he believes have been the foreign policy successes of his administration, especially in the area of nuclear disarmament, and sounded a call against those he called "the new isolationists."

A noncredit continuing education course for those 55 and older is being offered in Crofton by Anne Arundel Community College in a program co-sponsored by the county's Crofton branch library. The class, "Current Issues: Great Decisions," will delve into issues faced by Russia, the Middle East, Indonesia and Africa, and address the effects of those issues on U.S. foreign policy. The instructor is George Corrigan, a former intelligence officer who has taught history and foreign affairs for more than a decade.

NEENAH, Wis. -- The White House launched a scathing assault yesterday on Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton's foreign policy credentials as President Bush told voters that no issue in this election year would matter more than trust.The attack -- a major escalation of White House efforts to question the character and competence of the Democratic ticket -- came as Mr. Clinton and his running mate, Al Gore, began to challenge Mr. Bush's foreign policy leadership.Speaking a day after the two Democrats voiced sharp criticisms of the administration's policies toward Yugoslavia and Iraq, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the Democrats' remarks "show why this team is a long way from being qualified to lead the country."

DHAKA, Bangladesh - Globalists warn President Bush that he's not dealing with his father's foreign policy. Their warning is a response to the perception that the Bush foreign policy team - the realists - will narrow the role of U.S. engagement to direct threats to our national security. But these opposing camps miss the mark in charting a course for America's global role. The realists are wrong because the public demands that America respond to global problems, including systemic human rights abuses, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and environmental degradation.

Washington. -- After President Bush kicked Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait last winter, he was rewarded with 90 percent approval ratings and an icon from a group of Maronite Christians that seemed the ultimate comment on his stature as a world leader: St. George the dragon slayer.A year later, Mr. Bush returned from his "trade and jobs" mission to the Far East last weekend to find himself derided as a none-too-successful international car salesman and a diplomat who couldn't keep down his dinner.

WASHINGTON -- When President Clinton announced a new willingness to send U.S. ground forces to the Balkans, he inadvertently re-energized efforts by the Republican-led Congress to wrest more control over foreign policy from the White House.Republicans are already seeking to cut foreign aid, reorganize the State Department and restrict the president's freedom to operate in overseas trouble spots. Mr. Clinton calls the moves an "assault" on his authority."This is a more far-reaching effort by Congress to impose on a president certain policies than we've seen in the last five or six decades," says Helmut Sonnenfeldt, a senior State Department and White House aide during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

PARIS -- The purpose of the Clinton administration, so far as one has been able to discern its purpose, has been the re-election of Mr. Clinton to a second term. In that effort, the caution, ''it's the economy, stupid,'' proved a key to domestic political success.It has been bad advice in other respects, notably in the country's foreign relations. However, Mr. Clinton has little to fear from his Republican rival in that respect, as Sen. Robert Dole's claim to the presidency has no coherent foreign-policy framework.

WASHINGTON -- It didn't take long after the capture of Saddam Hussein for Howard Dean's rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination to turn up the heat on him. Even as the former Vermont governor was reiterating his view that the invasion of Iraq that finally brought the dictator to book was wrong, other contenders who voted for it were charging anew that Dr. Dean lacked the foreign policy experience to lead the nation. Not surprisingly, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the most outspoken supporter of the invasion among the candidates, led the pack.