The Nation: The Loyal Opposition

It is past time we ceased to apologize for an imperfect democracy. Find its equal. It is time we grew out of our initial—not a little condescending—supersensitivity about the feelings of new nations.

So urges Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who returned recently to Harvard after two years as U.S. Ambassador to India. In the March issue of Commentary, he calls on the U.S. to adopt a tougher stance toward the Third World. He excoriates Americans for an "extraordinarily passive, even compliant" policy that tries—but fails—to appease the developing nations by remaining silent when Third World leaders blame the West for famine and poverty.

Moynihan...