They may not affect the lives of Americans today, but they will have a substantial effect on whether Americans live in peace and prosperity in the future. Mistaking woodenheadedness for realism, the Bush foreign policy has stayed the course-toward rocky shoals. As the United States rejects European collective security, it becomes less relevant to Europe's future, more isolated, and unable to offer meaningful alternatives to recurrent strife. And by refusing to take part in abating threats, the United States will be left with one of two choices-either undertaking costly military interventions after the killing has begun, or taking a seat from which to watch the slaughter. CSCE could have been much more than it is, and it could have opened a pathway to avoiding conflicts like the Yugoslav wars.
Time is exceedingly short.
Daniel N. Nelson, a former foreign policy adviser to Cong. Richard Gephardt, is director of the Institute for International Studies at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. His book, Security After Hegemony, is forthcoming.