Until now, discerning a common thread in Bill Clinton's foreign policy has been a futile exercise. Suddenly, though, a familiar coherence is emerging. Image and impulse no longer seem to guide policy, and Clinton, like his Republican predecessors, appears to have finally decided that he loathes repression less than he loves commerce.
Depending on one's point of view, extolling "the new centrality of economic policy in our foreign ((affairs))," to use Secretary of State Warren Christopher's phrase, represents either a welcome maturation or a damnable sellout. In any event, it is hardly a small change; it's a 180 degrees turn.
Clinton...