PREPARING AMERICAN POLICY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY.

• Author: KREYCHE, GERALD F.
• Position: Review

PREPARING AMERICAN POLICY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDITED BY DAVID L. BOREN AND EDWARD d. PERKINS UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS 1999, 432 PAGES, $24.95

First, it was "the economy, stupid." Now, it is "foreign policy, stupid." Quagmires seem to have been the U.S.'s stock in trade during the 20th century. One has only to name Korea, Vietnam, Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. As America enters the 21st century, Washington finds itself having to practice both restraint and noblesse oblige. That is proving costly.

NATO, originally pieced together for purposes of defense, now is undertaking projects dictated more by moral demands, as seen in Yugoslavia. The alliance seems to be exponents of its own kind of jihad.

On the eve of the millennium, the U.S. is faced with new challenges in a rapidly changing world. This book attempts to essay those challenges and to suggest what directions must be taken to carry America forward. The overarching demand is that Washington think always in global terms as, more than ever, Americans realize they live in a world that will make it together or not at all.

David L. Boren, a former senator and now president of the University of Oklahoma, and Edward J. Perkins, a former U.S. ambassador and presently a professor there, put together a conference addressing forthcoming foreign policy problems and invited some of the outstanding experts to present papers, give commentary, and hold discussions. The result is about the best primer one could have in the field. The big names are there, each representing their areas of expertise, including Clayton K. Yeutter for...