Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-17

the determined confidence in
state Of the union Of free ma
lions is far from rosy at the be-
ginning Of 1856.
In Europe and the Middle
East, Western policy may be pc.
Itentially dynamic and flexible
But It is also at q standstill. And
at the same time. as both Presi-
dent Eisenhower and Secretary
Dulles have pointed out. ths
IKremlin has launched diplomatic
and economic offensives which
promise them their most impor.
Itant economic victories since the
war. It Is hard to believe in the
face of this situation that the
cause of the freeworld or the
security Of the western alliance
have. on the balance. been much
advanced in the course Of the
last year.
Morale Let Down
In Europe, de-emphasis of thu
military threat poses specia
problems for NATO. Relief from
fear. coupled with the thought
that military alliances as such
do not provide the answer te
Communism has resulted in q
general letdown Of NATO morale
Sectional disputes which woulc
have been unthinkable in ths
face of an imminent military
threat from Russia have sprung
up. The three-way tug-of-wal
over Cyprus by Britain, Greece
and Turkey-the struggle be.
tween France and Germany ovel
control Of the Saar-have weak.
lened the cohesion of the ALI.
ance and created new headache.
for NATO leaders.
Germany. frustrated in 1T
hope Of Ieunification after re.
lying on a Western policy o.
negotiation from strength" /,
going through its own agonizini
Ireappraisal. The result of thu
last Geneva conference has al.
ready strengthened the voice ol
German neutralism. which woulC
be willing to swap German mem.
bership in NATO for reunifica'
ton, and revealed deep disunity
within Chancellor Adenauer'.
own government coalition.
Fresh doubts have been RAISED
about the reliability Of France
in the wake Of elections which
greatly strengthened the mum
Der Of Communist deputies II
the National Assembly. Out.
spoken criticism has reaped .
harvest Of outspoken resentment
by the French against theil
Western allies. This, in turn
has led to new talk in the Unitet
States Of shifting 10 a periphera
strategy Of defense based or
Spain and England and a basic
revision Of the strategic plan or
which NATO has been founded
since the beginning.
New Formula Needed
In the light Of these facts, II
will take more than words t.
produce the effect envisaged In
President Eisenhower's state-of-
the Union message. II NATO's
military strength and its "po-
litical cohesion and unity Of pur-
pose" are to be increased in the
coming year. 1t Is quite cleai
that some new cohesive formula
now conspicuously lacking
will have to be found.
Elsewhere the situation is, Il
anything. worse. In the Middle
East. for example. in the face
Iof a more serious threat, the
confusion and lack Of a well-de-
fined Western policy are more
striking.
The threat, as Mr.. Dulles
points out. comes from Com
Imunist economic and military
assistance to the Arab states
Massive arms sales to Egypt by
Czechoslovakia have already up
set the precarious balance OF
power between the Arab states
and Israel which it was the pri-
mary objective of Western policy
to maintain. Advantageous deals
to supply needed industrial and
building equipment in exchange
for surplus agricultural products
have already tilted the balance
of trade for the area in the direc-
ton OF the Communist orbit. The