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The apparent vacuum at the top is beginning to catch up with the Administration. A TIME/CNN poll last week showed that 52% of respondents disapproved of Bill Clinton's handling of foreign affairs, and only 33% thought the President's chief advisers were doing a good job. The decision makers in Washington are well aware of the low marks they are getting, and have begun consultations on what to fix -- and whom to fire. Says Christopher: "We need to assess what's going on in foreign policy, and I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't talk to the President about mid-course changes."
The Secretary of State's problems start with his boss. Clinton puts domestic policy first, often resents the time he must spend on foreign affairs, and hopes that good lawyers like Christopher can go out and negotiate solutions to the world's troubles without bothering him much. "Clinton is very bright and capable, as good at foreign policy as the next guy," says Paul Nitze, a senior veteran of cold war policymaking. "But he gives the impression of not caring about it." Under the circumstances Clinton could use a strong vicar to set the course and capture his attention. "Now," says a former senior official, "we have three guys who say, 'What do you think?' "
Christopher is careful not to sound critical, but he conceded in an interview with TIME last week that if Clinton does not spend enough time on foreign issues, "it's because the lesson of the campaign -- that it's the economy -- was overlearned." He has asked Clinton to set a regular weekly session for general discussions with his top security advisers. The first such meeting was held last Friday and reviewed the North American Free Trade Agreement, Haiti, the Middle East and U.N. peacekeeping. These meetings aren't for making decisions; as one participant put it, "they offer the opportunity for talking things through in a more contemplative way" and allowing the principals to see the quality of Clinton's thinking. "The weekly lunch or breakfast needs to be added," says Christopher, "as a way to regularize his getting involved in the whole agenda, not piecemeal."
Critics also contend that the Secretary fails to exert tight enough command over his own building. Weak links in his senior staff prevent the department from conceptualizing well, then following through. "Foreign policy is like a pointillist painting," says a former U.S. diplomat. "You put a bunch of dots on the canvas and when you stand back you have a picture. These guys stand back and they have a bunch of dots." Christopher admits that the State Department will have to "pull up our socks, tighten up our operation." Two of its success stories have been Dennis Ross's efforts as special coordinator for the Middle East and Ambassador-at-Large Strobe Talbott's consultations with Russia, Ukraine and the other former Soviet republics, so Christopher is seeking more high achievers to handle major issues. "When it looks like a presidential policy is going to require day-to-day management," says a senior official, "we're going to look to heavyweight coordinators to do it, and to be accountable for any drift."