Stung by Criticism, Christopher Defends America’s Leadership

WASHINGTON —  Stung by criticism that the Clinton Administration’s foreign policy is irresolute and overly cautious, Secretary of State Warren Christopher mounted a determined defense of American leadership Thursday, asserting that the U.S. role in world affairs is “greater now than it has ever been.”

“The United States stands prepared to act decisively to protect our interests wherever and whenever necessary,” Christopher said. “When it is necessary, we will act unilaterally to protect our interests. Where collective responses are more appropriate, we will lead in mobilizing such responses. But make no mistake: The United States will lead.”

He offered no examples of situations in which Washington would act alone, but he said the Administration’s refusal to move forward with its own proposals to curtail the bloodshed in Bosnia-Herzegovina without the backing of a broad international coalition was “an exception, probably, (rather) than the rule.”

Christopher devoted most of a speech at the University of Minnesota to an appeal for public support for the Administration’s package of aid for economic and political reform in Russia, but he also sought to refute suggestions that the Administration’s foreign policy is adrift and without direction in the post-Cold War world.

Christopher was subjected to unaccustomed criticism after he joined the Russians and French in a plan for Bosnia that he had earlier rejected as too weak.