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AMERICANS MIGHT BEGIN ASKING A FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION: DOES ANY GOVERNMENT-CENTERED HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY MAKE SENSE IN THE POST-COLD WAR ERA? ALL THE EVIDENCE INDICATES THAT SUCH POLICIES, HOWEVER MORALLY COMPELLING, ARE OBSOLETE. THIS ARTICLE EXPLORES HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE AGE OF CLINTON, AND THE DECLINE IN PUBLIC SUPPORT. IT NOTES THAT CRUSADES TO BRING ABOUT UTOPIAN CHANGE AROUND THE WORLD WILL RARELY ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. THERE ARE OTHER ALTERNATIVIES.

THE ISSUE OF CLASS IS RE-EMERGING IN AMERICAN POLITICS. THIS ARTICLE PREDICTS THAT THE REALIGNMENT PROCESS WILL BE SLOW AND MESSY, AND THAT THE SCENE WILL BE DISTINGUISHED BY A DISJUNCTION BETWEEN POLITICO-MILITARY OUTLOOKS AND ECONOMIC POSITIONS. TO REINFORCE THIS VIEW, THE ARTICLE EXPLORES: THE COLD WAR DEBATE OVER MEANS; THE GULF WAR; FUMBLERS ON THE RIGHT; OUT OF LEFT FIELD; AND A NEW ALIGNMENT. IT SUGGESTS THAT THREE MAJOR FORCES--SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND INTELLECTUAL---ARE ESTABLISHING NEW DIVIDING LINES IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY, AND BY EXTENSION REORDERING AMERICAN POLITICS.

TO PASS POLITICAL TESTS AND TO COPE WITH THE FOREIGN POLICY AGENDA OF THE 1990S AND BEYOND, THE DEMOCRATS NEED A COMPLETE OVERHAUL IN THEIR FOREIGN POLICY THINKING. SPECIFICALLY, THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE TO ABANDON INTERNATIONALISM AND ITS NO LONGER AFFORDABLE STRATEGY OF GROUNDING AMERICAN SECURITY AND PROSPERITY IN A CONGENIAL WORLD ENVIRONMENT OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES, COLLECTIVE SECURITY, AND FREE TRADE. INSTEAD, THE PARTY NEEDS AN APPROACH THAT EMPHASIZES THE RESTORATION OF U.S. MILITARY AND ECONOMIC STRENGTH; THAT IS MORE DISCRIMINATING ABOUT FOREIGN MILITARY COMMITMENTS AND MORE WILLING TO USE FORCE UNILATERALLY TO SECURE TRULY IMPORTANT INTERESTS; THAT ADVOCATES TOUGHER TRADE POLICIES WITH THE COUNTRY'S LEADING ECONOMIC PARTNERS; AND THAT SEEKS GREATER SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT RESOURCES AND MANUFACTURES. WHAT THE DEMOCRATS NEED IS A NEW NATIONALISM.

Securing adequate military burden-sharing has been a major failure of America's NATO policy. The Kosovo War showed that, 50 years after NATO's founding, European alliance members still cannot defeat even a military midget on their own. Continuing transatlantic military imbalances drain from the US valuable resources, threaten to embroil America in numerous conflicts that do not affect important US interests, & undermine American public support for US-European security cooperation. Only a significantly more detached US approach to European security -- reflecting NATO's recent acknowledgement that US & European interests are not always identical -- can produce equitable burden-sharing. Adapted from the source document.

How collapse of the Soviet Union will affect the US-Japan security relationship; recommends normalization of bilateral relations.