Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 21, 1990                   TAG: 9003212004
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

BUSH:U.S. MUST MAINTAIN SECURITY IN CHANGING WORLD

In a 32-page report to Congress, Bush laid out a new U.S. national security strategy in the wake of the dramatic shifts in the communist world and spelled out his hopes for securing three major arms control agreements this year.

He said the U.S. postwar policy of containment "of an aggressive, repressive Soviet Union . . . has succeeded brilliantly."

But, he added, "the pivotal responsibility for ensuring the stability of the international balance remains ours, even as its requirements change in a new era. As the world enters a period of new hope for peace, it would be foolhardy to neglect the basic conditions of security that are bringing it about."

The president, in a separate statement, said his new national security strategy "reflects these changes . . . but it is grounded in realism."

The annual report produced by Bush's National Security Council said that Western rearmament and the economic boom in the 1980s helped trigger "the systemic crisis engulfing the communist world.

"We have seen powerful, pent-up democratic forces unleashed all across Eastern Europe that have overturned communist dictatorships and are reversing the pattern of Soviet dominance," it said.

"Such fundamental political change will likely be turbulent. There may be setbacks and new sources of instability" as the Soviet Union and the states of Eastern Europe "advance into historically uncharted waters."

The report said future conflicts are more likely to break out in the Third World, where "the growing technological sophistication" of combat poses new demands and requires U.S. forces to respond quickly.

"The Third World is a much more unstable place (than Europe)," a senior administration official said at a White House briefing.

A second senior official, who also insisted on anonymity, said, "Our mission in the world may be shifting from containment of an enemy to providing a reassurance of stability. There's no question we still have the central task of maintaining the balance of power with the Soviet Union, but we see a new era of uncertainties, new possible sources of instability, new concerns even in the European area and certainly in the Third World."

Bush, in his statement, said that, "while providing adequately for our defense, we will look to our economic well-being as the foundation of our long-term strength."

The report said, "Our goal is to move beyond containment, to seek the integration of the Soviet Union into the international system as a constructive partner. . . . The United States will maintain significant military forces in Europe as long as our allies desire our presence as part of a common security effort."

It said Central America "remains a disruptive factor in the U.S.-Soviet relationship. We hold the Soviet Union accountable for the behavior of its clients."

It renewed the U.S. commitment to an arms control agenda including a goal of agreements this year on long-range strategic arms, conventional forces in Europe and chemical weapons, as well as the so-called "open skies" proposal allowing surveillance flights over the superpowers' territory.