Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 14, 1993 TAG: 9307140458
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN BARNHART
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Beginning in 1989, all this changed. In that year we watched in amazement as the Berlin Wall was torn down from the East! By the end of 1991, most Communist regimes of Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union itself, had passed into history. Now there is one united Germany and 15 nations where the Soviet Union used to be. Leningrad returned to its original name, St. Petersburg, and the hammer and sickle no longer flies over public buildings in Moscow.
With the end of the Cold War, many breathed a sigh of relief. The possibility of World War III receded. Even folks who keep a nuclear doomsday clock set it back a couple of minutes. But is the world really safer?
The past two years have seen Yugoslavia explode in civil war. First, the Slovenes declared their independence, then the Croats. Both actions were accompanied by brief fights. Then, last year, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence and a three-way war broke out among the Croats, Bosnian Moslems and Serbs, with Moslems getting the worst out of it due to an arms embargo. It still remains to be seen what will come of that.
Iraq, with Saddam Hussein at the helm, remains a loose cannon in the Middle East. The latest episode was an attempt to assassinate former President Bush, and our Tomahawk reply at the end of June. Saddam is still in power, and I'm sure we haven't heard the last from him.
In recent years, there has been a disturbing trend in Western Europe toward racism and neo-fascism. In Germany, skinheads give Hitler salutes and kill Turks. In France, Jean Marie Le Pen leads a political party with an anti-foreigner platform.
The disintegration of the Soviet Union has left several new members of the nuclear club. Thanks to Soviet nuclear weapons that were on its soil when it became independent, Ukraine is now the world's third-largest nuclear power. Of course, the old Soviet military's centralized command-control structure makes it impossible for Ukraine, or any other nuclear-armed former Soviet republics, to launch their missiles. I doubt that it will be long before the problem is solved.
Finally, Russia's future is still in doubt. Many hope that Russia will become a democracy, or at least a mildly authoritarian state, with a degree of personal freedom. Yet, there are no guarantees. Along with the old Communists, who are currently unpopular, there is also an aggressive nationalistic movement in the nation. Russia's political situation is still chaotic, and it is too early to tell how things will turn out.
One thing is sure: The old bipolar world of the Cold War, with its ugly certainties, has been replaced by a very fluid international situation with ugly uncertainties. At the end of the last century, Paul Gauguin, tormented by personal uncertainties, made a painting on which he wrote three questions. The third question, "Where are we going?" is something we need to ask ourselves as a new world order assembles itself.
I have been quite disturbed by President Clinton's foreign policy; or rather, the lack of a foreign policy. This spring, his inability to make a decision and stick to it on Bosnia lost him the support of our European allies. To make matters worse, he confronted Serbian aggression with tough talk about bombing, then did nothing when the aggression continued.
The night our cruise missiles hit Baghdad last month, President Clinton came on television with a strong warning: "Don't tread on us." The message went on with tough talk about meeting foreign aggression with force. I hope this was not just some saber-rattling to boost his image in the opinion polls, that he will stick to the promises he made in that speech, and that this will be the beginning of a consistent Clinton foreign policy. God help us if it isn't.
John Barnhart of Roanoke is a former high-school Spanish teacher.
by CNB