Imperialism

BELARUS' DECISION to seek close political, economic and cultural ties with Russia does not come as a surprise. Ever since the Soviet Union fell apart four years ago, Belarus has been an orphan. It has lacked the political will and national identity to make its independence work. Its industrialized economy is a basket case. Since home-grown politicians do not want to make tough decisions, Belarus leaders now hope the Big Brother in Moscow will make them.In its willingness to see its sovereignty eroded, Belarus is an exceptional case.

THE GOP-controlled Congress cried, "Stop me before I spend again!" when it voted overwhelmingly to give the presidency unprecedented power.Frustrated that they cannot garner the votes to balance the budget or to stop their own pork barrel legislation, members of Congress have decided they don't want the job anymore -- despite the fact that the Constitution puts that responsibility in their hands."

In the past three months, the information flow from the bureaucracy of Carroll government -- never a torrent -- has diminished to a trickle. Inquiries about the most innocuous of state grants, tourism statistics and environmental and planning matters are routed to department and bureau directors or not returned at all.Strangely, the behavior of the bureaucrats contrasts with the county's commissioners, who are accessible and, so far, have made a genuine effort...

Annapolis -- WHEN I BEGAN covering Latin America as a foreign correspondent 30 years ago, even many Latins direly characterized themselves as "the people who never win." The great Mexican philosopher Leopoldo Zea had written typically of the pessimism that seemed to infuse Latin America from its very birth: "We carry our defects in our blood."The Latins' abiding pessimism about their prospects was, of course, always exacerbated by the gnawing successes of their neighbor to the north. And, so, "anti-gringoism" and "anti-imperialism" were added to the Latins' geopolitical vocabulary, as the United States, simply by existing, eternally rubbed in their failures.

Washington. -- Critics of President Clinton's liberal imperialism -- the colonialism of compassion -- miss the point when they say Haiti involves no vital U.S. interest. The pristine absence of anything as coarse as a vital U.S. interest is what recommends this adventure to its enthusiasts. Just as in domestic policy the proof of liberal virtue is generosity with other peoples' money, the proof in foreign policy is willingness to spend the nation's blood, treasure and prestige for abstractions rather than concrete national gain.

Paris -- Power lies in reputation, and American power is in decline because the nation's reputation is in decline. Commentators tend to blame this on the Clinton administration for its inconsistencies, but there is more to it.The Sunday Telegraph in London has always been the newspaper of traditional British conservatism. One of its commentators, John Casey, has just published a criticism of the Clinton administration's Cuban policy that becomes a vitriolic attack on American conduct toward the Caribbean and Latin America since the time, 40 years ago, when Cuba ''was a client state of the Americans and a world center of crime.

Around the turn of the century, a bitter debate took shape between imperialists and anti-imperialists. J.A. Hobson argued in his seminal work, ''Imperialism,'' that the great powers were impelled to seek colonies in a search of homes for the superfluity of their capital.Lenin, borrowing from Hobson and amplifying his argument, asserted that the process was an inevitable and final stage in the unfolding series of crises that would send capitalism to its doom. The imperialists -- more or less in charge of every foreign office -- saw the defense or acquisition of empire as a glorious pursuit necessary to the power and prestige of a great nation.

Las Vegas. -- Michael Leavitt, Utah's Republican governor, recently came here to demonstrate the practice and defend the theory of federalism. He came to argue on a network news program that Nevada and other states that are friendly to gambling -- almost all the states -- are foolishly gambling with the quality of their lives. Utah, he said, will go its own way.That is federalism -- states enjoying significant discretion to shape different destinies. At least that is what federalism is supposed to mean.

TWO recent events, one unfortunate and one exciting, seemingly unrelated.But maybe not.For through the second, exciting event comes the potential for neutralizing the unfortunateness of the first, and also for correcting one of America's great mistakes.The first event was the regrettable success of the Toronto Blue Jays against the Philadelphia Phillies. And why did so many find this regrettable? Let's be honest. It isn't just that the Blue Jays are bland. Nor is it just that they play in a carpeted mausoleum.

Tysons Corner, Virginia. -- For 50 years, from December 7, 1941, till 1991, the United States has made major sacrifices in our civilian economy in order to protect the world from imperialism -- Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese. Most notably, we have sacrificed whole industries -- consumer electronics, commercial shipbuilding, textiles and shoes, to name a few -- to our preoccupation with the defense of the free world.Now it is time to take back these industries. Just as we transformed our civilian economy into a war machine in 1942, 1992 is the time to reverse the process.