Baker Voices Support for Gorbachev Policies : He Says Ideas in Foreign Affairs ‘Offer Hope for a Radically Improved International Order’

Secretary of State James A. Baker III, in the Bush Administration’s most hopeful forecast yet for the future of U.S.-Soviet relations, said Thursday that Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s foreign policy ideas “offer hope for a radically improved international order.”

Baker, who next week will make his first visit to Moscow, said in a speech that the United States has been “encouraged” by Gorbachev’s steps to reduce Soviet forces in Europe, withdraw troops from Afghanistan and inject a measure of democracy into the Communist political system.

“We have no wish to see perestroika fail,” he said, using the Russian word for Gorbachev’s policy of restructuring Soviet society. “To the contrary, we would very much like it to succeed. And that achievement could have great international effect.”

Months of Quiet Debate

The secretary’s speech came after months of quiet debate within the Administration over how the United States should respond to the changes in the Soviet Union. A senior Baker aide said it was intended to provide “a conceptual framework” for U.S. policy toward Moscow--something critics have faulted the Administration for not outlining until now.

Baker’s assessment was not entirely rosy: He also complained that the Soviet Union’s actions in foreign policy have not yet measured up to Gorbachev’s promises. He noted that the Berlin Wall still divides Germany’s former capital, that Moscow sends military aid to Nicaragua’s Marxist regime and that the Soviet Union recently supplied new jet fighters to Libya.

The central aim of the Administration’s policy toward the Soviet Union, he said, will be “to challenge the Soviets . . . to live up to the promise of their rhetoric.”

“By testing Moscow across the board, we have the opportunity to turn many of the opportunities presented by the ‘new thinking’ into realities,” he said.

Baker also announced that the United States is ready to set a date for the resumption of Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START), originally scheduled for February but postponed while the new Administration reviewed its policies. Other senior officials said that Baker, during his meetings in Moscow next week, plans to propose that the START talks resume in June.

In the speech, delivered before a hastily convoked audience of diplomats and scholars at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, Baker pointedly rejected the argument made by some Administration officials that the United States should let caution govern its approach to Gorbachev.

‘Cannot Be Passive’

“There are some who say that we need not do much of anything because trends are favorable to us,” he said. “Their counsel is to sit tight and await Soviet concessions. I am not of this school. We cannot be passive in the face of these great strategic changes. Nor can we simply yield the initiative to a Soviet agenda that may not reflect the best interests of the West.”

One official said Baker was apparently referring to Robert M. Gates, President Bush’s deputy national security adviser, who has called for more caution in responding to Gorbachev.

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, who has also urged the Administration to go slow on its Soviet policy, warned Wednesday: “We cannot afford to react unilaterally to (Soviet) political rhetoric and proposals that have not been fully implemented.”

But several officials said the differences between Baker and Cheney are more of tone than substance. While Cheney has emphasized the danger to the United States if Gorbachev’s promises prove illusory, Baker chose to emphasize the benefits if the Soviet leader succeeds.

‘In Everyone’s Interest’

“A process that promises to increase the freedom and improve the well-being of the Soviet peoples is in everyone’s interest,” he said. “A process that promises to change Soviet international behavior towards diplomatic solutions and problem-solving, rather than the use of force or intimidation, offers hope for a radically improved international order. That is why we have been so encouraged by the words and the concepts of what General Secretary Gorbachev calls the ‘new thinking.’ ”

Baker outlined, in general terms, steps he wants to take in five areas of U.S.-Soviet relations:

--Human rights. The United States will press Gorbachev to make his government’s new policies “a permanent part of the Soviet political system and legal code,” Baker said.

--Arms control. Bush has decided to continue to pursue a START treaty under the framework already negotiated by the Reagan Administration, which calls for cutting each superpower’s arsenal of long-range nuclear missiles and bombers approximately by half.

--Third World. The United States plans to put more emphasis on working with the Soviet Union to solve conflicts in the Middle East, Central America, southern Africa and elsewhere. “While the Soviet Union has not necessarily been the cause of these conflicts, too often Soviet military aid and diplomacy have impeded the search for solutions and even encouraged violence,” Baker said. “Now is the time to engage the Soviet Union in a serious dialogue to determine whether such policies have changed.”

--Weapons proliferation. He said he hopes to work toward a joint U.S.-Soviet framework for controlling the spread of ballistic missiles and chemical weapons around the world.

--Global issues. Baker said he will seek increased U.S.-Soviet cooperation on several problems that cross national boundaries. “Pollution, drugs and terrorism are all issues that should join, not separate, the United States and the Soviet Union,” he said.