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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1987)
Daily Nebraskan Pago 5 Iran furor could destroy foreign policy Wednesday, March 11, 1987 m:l U70 L0Cu!0,'$!i KRAUTHAMMER from Page 4 tely called the Truman Doctrine. With it, "containment" was born. The Mon roe Doctrine had pledged the United States to keep foreign powers out of thl western Hemisphere. The Truman Doc trine pledged the United States to con tain Soviet power and preserve freedom wherever it could around the world. When the speech ended, said a wit ness, Congress' "applause had a bewil dered quality about it." Initial reviews were not all favorable. In the end, how ever, Truman won. By May 15, the aid was approved by both houses of Con gress. The Truman Doctrine saved Greece and Turkey. And coupled on June 5 with the Marshall Plan, it saved the rest of Western Europe. The Truman Doctrine was the guid ing principle of U.S. foreign policy for a generation, until the consensus for containment disintegrated with Viet nam. Several stopgaps were immediately offered as replacements. First was the Nixon Doctrine: relying on friendly regimes to police their regions on our behalf. The great model was the Shah. The Nixon doctine fell with him. Then, after the invasion of Afghanis tan, the Carter Doctrine promised uni lateral American action to defend West ern interests in the Persian Gulf. This doctrine died quickly for lack of credi bility. The Rapid Deployment Force, sword of the Carter Doctrine, is hardly an instrument for repelling Iranian mullahs, let alone the Soviet Army. If regional powers prove unstable, and projected American power unreli able, what then? As Joshua Muravchik points out in the winter issue of For eign affairs, global containment the idea of resisting the Soviets everywhere collapses and gives way to a new American policy vis-a-vis the Soviet Union: selective containment. Some countries the United States will sup port against Soviet-backed forces. Oth- h ers not. In the late 70s, for example, we said no to Angola and yes to El Salvador. There is one problem with selective containment. Alone, it is a policy of continual retreat. If the Soviets gain a foothold in, say, Angola, they keep it. The Brezhnev Doctrine, enforced by Moscow, pledges that Soviet advances will not be reversed. Selective con tainment plus the Brezhnev Doctrine means: What's theirs is theirs and what's ours is up for grabs. The fight is always on Western terrain. The strategic' response to this asym metry has come to be called the Reagan Doctrine. It says that recent Soviet acquisitions at the periphery of empire Angola, Afghanistan, Nicaragua are not permanent. They are open to challenge. And we support the chal lenge. The Reagan Doctrine declares overt (Oliver Nortli take note: overt) American support for anti-communist resistance movements. By declaring Soviet gains reversible, the Reagan Doctrine saves selective containment from being a policy of gradual, but inexorable, retreat. It thus reestab lishes an equilibrium a dynamic equilibrium in the strategic equa tion between the United States and the Soviet Union. American foreign policy is routinely criticized for its reactive quality, for its air of ad hoc pragmatism. Hence the demand for initiative, strategy, some larger vision of how to deal with the world and with the Soviet challenge. Containment and the Truman Doctrine met that demand exactly 40 years ago. Selective containment and the Reagan doctrine meet it today. The Reagan Doctrine may, nonethe less, be undone by the Iran affair, by the zealotry of those who acted secretly and perhaps illegallyjust months before Congress had come to open military support for the major anti-communist insurgencies. Congress, it seems, will have its revenge. If so, those about to defend the Reagan Doctrine might inform us of their alternative strategy for dealing with Soviet advances around the world. Or shall we be content with a policy of gradual retreat? Harry Truman didn't think so. 1987, Washington Post Writers Group. Krauthammer is a senior editor for the New Republic. Check out Custom Waterbed Shoppo's incredible everyday savings at our new store, 2541 Randolph. FREE Mattress Pad with any waterbed purchase. Cap Rails $9.00pr. 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For people who have to study on top of taking care of children and spending time with a spouse, "it's hard to set priorities and to get a balance," she said. The ages of participants range from 20 to 50 and their problems range from communication problems to consider ation of divorce, she said. But "com munication is always part of the prob lem," she said. A workshop consists of four sessions, one each week. Each session consists of a lecture and talking and listening exercises using topics each couple wants to talk about, she said. "It is a role playing, but they are using real problems," she said, such as how they share the housework. "There has been a definite improve ment and also a very positive feeling developed through the time they spend together in the workshop," Bukacek said. When couples spend time together at the workshop, they show that they care about each other, she said. Husbands and wives may feel good about their spouses studying at the university, Bukacek said, but emotion ally they feel "left out" when their spouses are busy with studies every night or are meeting new people and enjoying new experiences. Bukacek said couples who can talk about these feelings can get along much better and adjust to different lifestyles. A workshop usually has less than five couples, which is "a nice number to work with," said Bukacek, who has just finished the February workshop. One workshop began Monday. Another will meet every Tuesday night, begin ning March 31. Another workshop will be offered during summer sessions. There is no fee. Send free "God Made Me" poster or, send free poster along with one-week Summer opportunities in Appalachia to: Brother Jack Hsnn, Gtenmcry Horn M'ssionsrs, P.O. Cox 4S5S13, Cincinnati, OH 45243-5313. Name .Age. Address City .State. .Zip. Telephone! L 04687 Shorts O UNL Chancellor Martin Massen gale will visit Beatrice, Hastings and Kearney Tuesday to meet with UNL alumni leaders and discuss the Lincoln campus plans for the future. , O Joseph Macek, professor of phys ics at UNL, has been appointed to serve as a charter member of the U.S. Depart ment of Energy's Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee. The committee is being formed by Secretary of Energy John S. Herrington to provide periodic reviews of the elements in the depart ment's Basic Energy Sciences program. Macek has been appointed to a one year term and may be reappointed for up to four additional years. LAMBDA CHI ALPHA & ALPHA CHI OMEGA PRESENT . CASINO NIGHT 0f 7 -32 M ADMISSION 3.00 ADVANCED 3.50 AT THE DOOR ' 7987 icoo:c::da nsno go GC007GH ALSO PLAYING GSPOP 9 12 PM PROCEEDS GO TO VILLA MARIE SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN SPONSORED IN PART BY: fiin 4 yrvp-SwcV 100 r:.j v i