Expert Analyst: International Politics, Middle East & Nonviolent Action
WHILE the Bush administration and many pundits see the defeat of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua as simply a continuation of the democratic trend sweeping Eastern Europe, the circumstances are quite different. Failure to make such a distinction, in fact, could be disastrous for US foreign policy.
THE incoming Bush administration has an opportunity to score an early diplomatic victory should it choose to actively throw its support behind United Nations sponsored negotiations for a peaceful settlement to the war in Western Sahara. To do so would be a departure from the Reagan administration which, despite diplomatic successes in Namibia and elsewhere, has chosen not to play a similarly constructive role in northwest Africa.