Clinton Does Not Face Either/Or Choice : Policy: He can instill a new commitment to democratization in Eastern Europe without sacrificing domestic goals.

High expectations are the principal dangers that President-elect Clinton faces. After 12 years of limited efforts in promoting social justice and equal opportunities at home and in emerging democracies abroad, both the home front and foreign communities are hoping for a lot. Internationally, equal opportunities should be the key goal, but the twin brother of that goal is supporting newly created democracies.

Let me concentrate on this latter goal, where doubts reign over Clinton’s expertise, political will and determination. And it is in that particular arena that President Clinton could easily bring back the mantle of idealism that Presidents Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy earned after seeing the masses of people enslaved and shut off from the mainstream of European progress.

Eastern European countries, hidden for half a century behind the Iron Curtain, have re-emerged. They have achieved that almost unbelievable feat through a combination of their own quest for liberty and the gradual disintegration of the Soviet Union. Today, they are in the painful process of readjustment; today, they are banging on the door of Europe asking for readmission; today, their young generations, born and educated under communist rule, are taking a first look at emerging opportunities. And, today, looking at the major generational turnover that is taking place in America, they are expecting to be noticed.

A short while ago these generations were seen as the bulwark of anti-communism; they were admired as freedom fighters. Today, however, they need to be recognized as engineers of change. But they are new, inexperienced and bewildered. Looking toward the United States, they want attention--attention not only in monetary terms but also in the understanding of their difficulties and their determination to succeed.

What is the cost to our new, young President? It does not mean sacrificing his domestic goals in order to pursue foreign-policy objectives. It does mean a call for full, public understanding and commitment--a call like the one that John F. Kennedy made when he created the Peace Corps. Today, Peace Corps volunteers are spreading the democratic gospel in many Eastern European countries, but until last month, they were operating in a vacuum because of the lack of interest on the part of the Bush Administration. Another call for America to share technology, educational skills, political institutions and other facets of American life needs to be made.

What I am suggesting is the same level of commitment to the democratization of former captive countries as existed before to the goal of defeating communism. The latter was so much easier; it was a negative approach that used radio stations, clandestine printing presses and the glorification of those who led the opposition or lingered in prisons.

An active role is needed in much more positive ways and in more complex areas. We need to persuade our European allies that their eastern neighbors should be granted equal opportunities within the European Community--that they need entry into a reorganized security system, within or outside of NATO; they need full cooperation in dealing with their badly polluted environment, and they need encouragement, and more support, from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and full membership in GATT.

In short, what the new President and his Administration should do as one of their first foreign-policy initiatives is to confirm America’s traditional interest in democracy. That interest, translated into action without at all infringing on domestic priorities, could also mobilize large American ethnic groups whose roots go back to these newly emerging lands to be partners in the rebuilding. Partnerships can be formed in business, in education, community development and training in basic practices of democratic institutions, to mention a few.

What is needed is presidential leadership; what is also needed is a convincing move on the part of the new Administration that Eastern Europe, struggling to overcome its dark past, is a place worthy of immediate attention.

Thus, President Clinton, announcing twin goals of equal opportunities at home and abroad, could at the very start of his presidency establish himself internationally as well as nationally.