WHAT INDIA CAN EXCEPT

WHEN THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL democracy goes to the polls,as the united states
did last week,it is just the American
people who are interested in determing the meaning of elections.In every countr
y and continent on the globe,leaders and laymen
alike are trying to assess the significance of BILL CLINTON'S re-election and t
he retention of the republican majorities in the
congress for their own national and personal interests.
Such an undertaking is complicated by the fact that intern
ational issues did not figure very significantly in the
presidential or congressionalcampaigns.Indeed,aside from a few partisan swipes
at the foriegn policy flops and failures that
characterised the first two years of the clinton administration, hardly a word
was said about the challenges the united states
faces abroad,and how the two main presidential contenders would go about dealin
g with them.For Bob Dole,the republicans
candidates ,the main issues were the need for a reduction in taxes and the alle
ged character deficiencies of his opponent.FOR
bill clinton, the democratic candidate,the main issues were the need for a redu
ction in taxes and the alleged character deficiences
of his opponent.For Bill clinton, the democratic candidate, the main issues were
the economic success story of his first
Administration and his plans to "build a bridge to the 21st century" during his
second term in office.
If references to foreign policy were few and far between,
mentions of American policy towards South Asia were
virtually nonexistent.Even the differences between the United states and india o
ver the comprehensive Test Ban Treaty(CTBT),
which received considerable attention in the American press in the weeks leading
up to the election, never became an issue in the
campaign. With the both parties favouring the CTBT, there was no way in which ei
ther one could derive significant political
mileage from it.
In the absence of any explicit references to South Asia during the
campaign, one must look to the result s of the election for
clues as to its significance for the future of the American policy towards the r
egion over the next four years. By for the most
important point here is that the democrats of both House and the Senate, the key
players inthe making of Foriegn policy will
remain the same.Bill Clinton be still the president, Newt Gingrich will still be
speaker of the house of representatives, and Trent
Lott will stil be majority leader of the senate.Similarly, Jesse Helms will rema
in chairman of the house international Relations
committee.
Yet there will be some personal changes thet could have potentially s
ignificant implications for future American policy
towards the region.Warren Christopher has already announced his intention to res
ign as secretary of state.So too has William
Pary as secretary of defence;Anthony lake,who now serves as director of the Nati
onal Security Council,may well be given some
position in the administration.And Robin Raphel, who as assistant secretary of s
tate of South Asia Affairs is the key person in
the bureaucracy responsible for shaping American policy towards the region,is l
ikely to be moving to another assignment as well.